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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Early New Haven 



By 

SARAH DAY WOODWARD 



" We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us ; what Thou 
hast done in their time of old." — PSALM XLIV. 



Press of 
THE PRICE. LEE & ADKINS CO. 

New Haven, Conn. 

1912 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1912, 

by Sarah D. Woodward, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



©CI.A3053^r> 



3n m^morg 

of 

mg futl^tt 

^av^t^ Sag 



Enbk af (HanUntB. 



Chapter Page 

I. Finding A New Home 7 

II. The First Year 13 

III. Laying Out the Town 18 

IV. The Fundamental Agreement 22 

V. Commerce 25 

VI. The Meeting House 31 

VII. The Green 38 

VIII. The Homes of the First Settlers 44 

IX. Internal Dissensions 48 

X. Davenport and Eaton 55 

XI. The Regicides: William Goffe and Edward Whalley. 65 

XII. The Regicides: John Dixwell 74 

XIII. The Union With Connecticut 80 

XIV. After the Union 86 

XV. The Breaking out of the Revolution 92 

XVI. The British Invasion of New Haven 96 

XVII. Early Schools and Schoolmasters 104 

XVIII. Yale College 107 

XIX. The Cemeteries m 

XX. Early Maps of the Colony of New Haven 116 

XXI. A Retrospect 118 



iEarlg N^tu l^au^n. 



As one stands in the middle of the New Haven Green and 
looks at the modern and beautiful buildings facing it, and' the 
trolleys and automobiles moving in all directions, it is hard to 
realize that the. Green was once an unfenced pasture,,, that the 
streets were rutted country roads, with here and there a house, 
that the cemetery was an uncared for little burying ground at 
the rear anfl sides of the Center Church, that the markets were 
held at the corner where the town pump now stands, that the 
stocks and whipping post stood almost opposite the Phelps 
Gateway, and that our forefathers, in their steeple crowned 
hats, broad collars, knee breeches and buckled shoes assembled 
at the beat of the drum, not only for Sunday services, but for 
town meeting as well, at the Meeting House in the middle of 
the Green. 

Our forefathers were providentially led to settle here, and 
were kept here when all looked dark. We owe more than we 
perhaps realize to their fortitude in hardship, to their obedience 
to the heavenly vision, and to their desire for sound learning. 
In many ways their plans were frustrated, but their ideals held 
true, and have helped to mould the life we lead here to-day. 



CHAPTER I. 

FINDING A NEW HOME. 

The men who left their comfortable homes in England, and 
crowded the little ship Hector and her consort, supposed they 
were going to settle near their friends who had founded the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had heard how that under- 
taking had succeeded, and as the conditions in England which 
led to the departure of Winthrop and his followers had not im- 
proved, but had, on the contrary, grown steadily worse, they 
began as early as 1636 to make preparations for emigration. 

The conditions which created so much dissatisfaction 
among English Puritans in the seventeenth century were both 
political and religious. Charles I, who was then King had had 
continual difficulty with his Parliaments over the questions of 
raising money. After a particularly stormy time with his 
third Parliament, he decided to try the plan of governing, or 
rather of laying taxes, without calling a Parliament together, 
and for nearly twelve years, taxes were laid and collected at the 
King's demand. It was not so much the amount of the tax, as 
it was the defiance of English law, which led to an excited 
state of feeling. Men resented the principle of ''taxation with- 
out representation" as they have always done, and the feeling 
against the King grew stronger and stronger until the day 
when he was executed for high treason. 

The tax, of course, principally affected well-to-do people, 
but there were other arbitrary laws which bore heavily upon 
people in all walks of life. The Church of England was by 
law established, and those persons who did not believe all the 
doctrines of this Church, or preferred to worship in some other 
manner, were called Non-Conformists. They had, of course, 
their own places of worship, and as they were good citizens. 



8 Early New Haven. 

loyal and law abiding, they were allowed for a while to hold 
religious services (in the manner they preferred) without 
molestation. But during the reign of Charles, severe laws 
were passed, intended to stamp out the increase of their num- 
bers. Wealthy men who were found attending these meetings 
were fined, and in some cases imprisoned, and the clergy were 
fined, imprisoned and deprived of their livings. 

Wealthy Non-Conformists were thus harassed in two ways. 
They were forced to pay taxes which had been unjustly levied, 
and they were also liable to fine and imprisonment on account 
of their religious belief. 

Plymouth had been settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims who had 
already lived in Holland for twelve years. In 1628 the Puri- 
tan emigration began, and Salem, Boston and other towns in 
Massachusetts had been settled, and Hartford, Windsor and 
Wethersfield in Connecticut, before the New Haven Colony was 
established. The great and flourishing colony of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony had given people confidence in the possi- 
bilities of colonization, and there were still remaining in Eng- 
land men who had taken part in the preparations for these 
settlements, in whose experience and sagacity every one could 
put his trust. 

Two of these men were the Rev. John Davenport and IVTr. 
Theophilus Eaton. Eaton was the older man, but they had 
known one another from boyhood, and had been interested in 
the Massachusetts Bay Company from the first. Both Eaton 
and Davenport had contributed money to procure the charter 
which King Charles I signed. Eaton had also, as a business 
venture, fitted out ships for the use of intending colonists, and 
were familiar with the needs of settlers in a new land. 

The men who had settled these colonies had left many 
friends and relatives in England, and although opportunities 
for correspondence were not frequent, such ships as sailed for 
England carried letters from the settlers to their old friends. 



Finding a New Home. 9 

Much interest was felt in the mother country concerning the 
progress of the new colonies, and many men who had not been 
able to arrange their affairs in time to join one of the earlier 
parties, felt a great longing to leave England and trust to the 
possibilities of life in a new land. When it became known 
that Eaton was interested in another venture of the kind, appli- 
cations to join it became numerous, and instead of one vessel, 
which at first had seemed all-sufficient, it became necessary to 
charter a second one, that all the intending colonists, with their 
families, provisions and live stock might find accommodation. 
Several of Eaton's family, as well as a number of Davenport's 
parishioners were of the party. Most of the intending colon- 
ists were from London, but a party from Kent, another from 
Hertfordshire, and still another from Yorkshire, were added to 
their numbers. 

The two ships, the Hector and its consort, whose name has 
not come down to us, made a good trip, and sailed into Boston 
harbor in June, 1637. Their friends in the colony gave them 
a hearty welcome, and were most hospitable in the offer of land 
for their settlement. Newbury proposed to give up her entire 
township to them, Charlestown offered many inducements and 
the General Court held a meeting at which it was voted that 
the new body of colonists might settle on any land they liked 
which was not already claimed. 

But there were difficulties in the way. The newcomers had 
left home on account of religious strife and contention, and 
hoped to find everybody of one mind regarding sacred things 
in the new country, but they found the people of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony already at variance in matters of religion. 
Eaton and Davenport knew, if they remained among them, their 
party would soon begin to take sides, and there would be divi- 
sion in their own ranks. It seemed best to go away as soon as 
a suitable place could be found. 

Moreover, the intention of the leaders of the new expedition 



lo Early New Haven. 

was that its members should earn their Hving by commerce^ 
rather than by agriculture. There were several men in the 
party of considerable wealth, and many more who were well- 
to-do, and the idea of commerce had appealed to some who 
would not have cared to embark their all in a colony whose 
sole object was to till the land. The territory bordering on 
Massachusetts Bay had all been taken up, and while there were 
hundreds and thousands of acres, inland, that might be theirs for 
the asking, this would mean a settlement too far from the coast 
for any hopes of commerce. The matter was much discussed, 
but no conclusion was reached, and the summer passed away. 
The newcomers scattered to various parts of the colonv, the 
poorer ones working at theil* trades, but they still considered 
themselves an independent body, and were taxed as such by the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony. 

Toward the latter part of August, Governor Winthrop re- 
ceived a letter from Captain Stoughton who was of the party 
of Englishmen sent in pursuit of the remnant of the Pequot 
tribe. These Indians had gone westward as far as Fairfield, and 
two parties, one by land and one by water, had followed them, 
passing on their way through the territory occupied by the 
Quinnipiac Indians, a peaceful, feeble folk who were much 
harassed by fierce tribes. Their land seemed very beautiful to 
Captain Stoughton, and in his letter he said it was preferal)le to 
Pequot as a place for a settlement. 

It is thought that Governor Winthrop showed this letter to 
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport, for on the 31st day of August, 
1637, Eaton, with a small party of men, sailed from Boston for 
Quinnipiac^ to look over the ground and to judge if it would 
be a good place to plant a colony. 

To understand how New Haven harbor looked when Eaton 
and his men sailed into it, early in September, 1637, we must 
remember that the shore line has been greatly changed. The 



Finding a New Home. 



II 



growth of the city, and the demands of great railroad Hnes, 
have made it necessary to fill in the harbor flats, and to turn 
what was once water into dry land. The water line was then 
at Water street, and at the corner of Water and Meadow 
streets, in front of where the old Totten house now stands, was 
the landing place. One small stream of water emerged from 
the ground near the southwest corner of Park and Chapel 
streets, flowed southeast along the course of what is now called 
Oak street and one can still see in the slope of the streets, what 
a declivity there must originally have been. This stream 
emptied into the harbor west of the landing place. The colon- 
ists named this stream West Creek. Another small stream, 
east of State street, also flowed south, and emptied into the 
harbor east of the landing place. This they called East Creek. 
The little party of Englishmen, as they gazed upon the 
landscape from the deck of their little vessel, saw a beautiful 
flat plain, extending about two miles inland, and guarded on 
either side by great masses of rocks of a reddish hue. The 
Dutch had been here before them, and had named the place 
Rodenburgh, or Red Mount. In one place beech and shrub 
oaks grew thickly, but most of the land was covered with an 
open forest, though there were clearings where the Indians had 
raised crops of corn. On the banks of the two creeks were 
salt meadows. 

Eaton landed with his party, made the acquaintance of the 
Indians, and carefully examined the ground, to satisfy himself 
that it would be a suitable spot in which to settle. He con- 
cluded that it was as good a place as they would be able to 
find, and sought and obtained an interview with Momauguin, 
the sachem of the tribe. He made the Indian understand' that 
the body of men for whom he was spokesman, wished to come 
and live on the plain ; that they would pay a fair price for the 
land, and would not do him or his tribe any harm. There were 



12 Early New Haven. 

but forty-six fighting men in the tribe, and they had had many 
conflicts with stronger tribes, in which they had suffered defeat. 
A plague had carried off a number of their warriors, and they 
were in the mood to Hsten to what Eaton had to say. When 
Momauguin told them of Eaton's offer, they were found willing 
to accept it. They wished to reserve the privilege of hunting 
and fishing over a part of the territory, and this privilege was 
readily granted them. Eaton arranged with the Indians the 
terms for the purchase of the land, but the payment was not 
made until later. It was necessary to obtain the services of 
an interpreter that the Indians might be made to understand 
what they had bound themselves to perform. There was such 
an interpreter, Thomas Stanton by name, living in Boston. He 
was distinguished for his knowledge of Indian dialects and 
Eaton thought it best to leave the payment unmade until Stan- 
ton should arrive at Quinnipiac. 

Three moihths had now passed, and the shortening days and 
chilly nights gave warning of the approach of winter. It was 
timic for Eaton to return to Boston and report what arrange- 
ments he had made. He left eight men at Quinnipiac, Joshua 
Atwater being in charge, to make what preparations they could 
for the main body of settlers. Eaton then returned to Boston 
with the remainder of his party, where they stayed until spring. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE FIRST YEAR. 

Although the Indians seemed peaceful and friendly, and too 
few in numbers to be dreaded, there was always the possibility 
that they might join forces with some hostile tribe, and Eaton 
bore that possibility in mind. He thought at first that it would 
be best to settle at Oyster Point, now City Point, as the settlers 
would there be protected on three sides, and it would be neces- 
sary to build palisades on the land side only. But when his 
men first began to dig wells, it was found that to reach water 
required very deep digging and it was thought best to change 
the site of the settlement to a place where water lay nearer the 
surface of the ground. A spring of water which is said to 
have never frozen in winter, and to have been always cool in 
summer, gushed from the ground near the corner of George 
and Church streets, and hard by this spot the little party of 
eight men built a hut for their winter's occupancy. The win- 
ter of 1637-38 was very long and cold and one of the eight 
men — it is thought John Beecher — died, probably of exposure 
and hardship, and was buried near the hut. When the cellar 
was dug, in 1750, for the large stone house still standing at 
the junction of George and Meadow streets, the bones of this 
first settler were unearthed. 

The seven survivors of this little party found abundance of 
occupation for the winter. Besides the hunting, fishing and 
chopping of wood necessary to supply themselves with food 
and fuel, the building of shelters for the coming settlers, was part 
of their work. The channel of the West Creek was near what 
is now Oak Street, and there were high banks of sand on each 
side. Many people now living in New Haven remember per- 
fectly well the appearance of these sand banks, which have now 



14 Early New Haven. 

been carted away, as the grade of the street has been raised. 
In these sand banks the men dug caves or cellars. Those on 
the right hand side, as one came up the Creek, faced the south, 
and were bright and sunny. These caves were shored up by 
logs, over which cuts of turf were laid, something after the 
fashion of the sod houses of the West, and these cellars, or 
rather dug outs, were the only homes the colonists found wait- 
ing for them. 

During the winter the little band of seven men had frequent 
visits from the Indians, who were awaiting with impatience 
the coming of the main body of colonists. The winter time un- 
doubtedly seemed very long to them, but at last it wore away, 
and on the 30th of March, 1638, the colonists left Boston, 
reaching Quinnipiac two weeks later. 

There were about fifty men who left London in the Hector 
and her consort. Counting women, children and servants the 
entire number of voyagers was about two hundred and fifty. 
A large number of settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
who for various reasons wished to make a change, joined their 
numbers, and it is thought that at least four hundred and fifty 
souls came to Quinnipiac. Some writers have estimated that 
counting in servants, dependents and people who were not in- 
tending to become settlers there were about eight hundred 
souls. 

On the 13th day of April, 1638, the colonists entered the 
harbor, but as the day was Friday, and as the familiar super- 
stition about beginning important undertakings on the day pre- 
vailed, the landing was deferred until Saturday. 

It is thought that the vessel was too large to sail up the 
channel of West Creek, and that it was anchored at or near 
the landing place and the ship's boats, loaded with the goods 
of the settlers, were rowed up the creek to the places where 
the cellars or caves had been dug ready to receive them. There 



The First Year. i^ 

were not enough of these caves to house all the settlers, and 
some tents and wigwams were erected. Many of the men 
returned to the ship to sleep at night until at last the stores 
were all landed and the vessel returned to Boston. 

The Indians, who had never before seen white women or 
children, gathered to welcome them as soon as the vessel ap- 
peared in sight, and were doubtless very much interested in 
all the movements of the party. 

On Sunday the colonists gathered under an oak tree stand- 
ing near the corner of College and George streets to listen to a 
sermon preached by the Rev. John Davenport, who was one 
of the two leaders of the party. His text was "Then was 
Jesus led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" 
(St. Matt. VI, i). He kept a diary at this time, in which he 
recorded that he "enjoyed a good day." In a medal struck 
to commemorate the two hundreth anniversary of the settle- 
ment of the town, John Davenport is represented as standing 
under the oak tree, preaching, and in the background are 
seated several Indians listening to his words. The west win- 
dow in the Center Church commemorates the same scene. 

The exact location of this tree was in the alley-way east of 
Jacobs' drug store, about twenty feet north of George street. 
A section of this tree was the anvil which Henry Ward 
Beecher's grandfather used, his blacksmith shop standing on 
the site of Knight's Garage. 

A day or two after their arrival, the settlers observed a day 
of prayer. They gathered again, possibly under the same oak 
tree and agreed to be guided by the Scriptures in all their un- 
dertakings. For more than a year they had no formal govern- 
ment. 

In the autumn Thomas Stanton arrived from Boston and 
succeeded in making the Indians understand the terms of the 
treaty, which was signed in November, 1638. Among other 



. Early New Haven. 

stipulations, the Indians promised not to set traps where they 
could injure the live stock of the colon.sts; not to come mto 
the settlement on Sunday with any goods for sale or barter , 
not to loiter around people's houses on Sunday ; never to enter 
the house of any settler without knocking, and not to come into 
town in parties of more than six. The price paid for he land 
was tweL coats of English trucking cloth, twelve alchemy* 
spoons, twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen of knives, 
welve porringers and four cases of French kn-es and scssors^ 
Eleven coats of trucking cloth, and one of EngUsh cloth made 
after the English manner." were given to the sachem Monto- 
ZslX hea^l of a small band of ten fighting men, who, later, 
sold them additional land. 

The caves, or cellars dug in the sand banks were very un- 
healthy, and as soon as possible the settlers built ™de og hu 
to shelter them until the land was portioned on , and these 
huts, it is said, were huddled together on George street ^U.ere, 
owing to the lav of the land, the sun lies very warm. In Octo 
b r of the same year, Mr. Edward Wigglesworth, with his wi 
and son came to the colony, and until a hotise could 1.ebmh 
for them they occupied one of the cave shelters. ^The ^on 
Michael Wigglesworth, in later years wrote a poem Th Day 
of Doom," and also prepared a brief ^"tobiography , of whidi 
every line is of value to students of early New Haven h. tory 
n "his autobiography he speaks of the -e shelters, and say 
that during a severe storm the rain soaked in upon him as he 
av in bed and that he had a severe illness m consequence. 
We Lnow *at his father, was a very lame man, aiid his lanieness 
mav have been caused by sleeping in the cave dur-g he ch. 
autumn weather. Some people have thought ^at he g av 
stone marked E. W., near the west wal o^^eC-ter Church, 
marks the_la_st resting place of Edward Wigglesworth. 

, Alche,^^ base metal substitute for silver. 



The First Year. 17 

The settlers had brought seeds of various kinds from Eng- 
land, and they began at once to clear the land sufficiently to 
plant crops. The early spring was very damp and cold, and 
their seed rotted in the ground, so that they were obliged to 
plant a second time. This crop prospered exceedingly as the 
summer was hot and dry. The planters had fine crops and felt 
greatly encouraged. ' 



CHAPTER III. \ 

LAYING OUT THE TOWN. 

Among the settlers were several men who understood the j 

art of surveying, and one of these, John Brockett is sup- , 

posed to be the man to whom we owe the plan of the town. . 

Our streets do not run according to the points of the compass. : 

The distance from the East Creek to the West Creek was a htt e | 

more than half a mile. The surveyor laid out a line half a mde 

long on the bank of West Creek. With this as a base he laid , 

out a square and subdivided it into nine smaller squares. , 

The central one of these nine squares was left for a market ■ 

place, and the others were portioned out into home lots or the ^ 

proprietors. This land not being enough, two suburbs as , 

they were called, were laid out, one bounded by George , 

Meadow, Water and State streets, and-the other west ot West . 

Creek In more recent times the original nine squares have : 

each been divided into four, but Crown street. Court street i 

and Wall street, High street. Temple street -/ O-'^/Jf^;^^ i 

were not laid out until nearly a hundred and fifty years had . 

^'"^ Tht market place was held in common, and was used for all i 
public purposes. It was unfenced, but the eight sqvmres ^ur- 

rounding it were fenced at the cost of their proprietors The , 
cotonv was a joint stock undertaking. Each person who was 
rioted as a planter in the colony V^^^^^^^'^^^ 

wished to invest, stated the number in his family and received , 

^ 'Z'Xi:^^^^- estate which a man inves^ I 

.e was allowed five -« ,;^ ^ ^^f JldiTlr":? t^^ i 
every two persons. If, then, a man wnn ^ 
children gave in a hundred pounds of estate, he was alio we<i 

fifteen acres of land, and so in proportion. Enough of this for . 



Laying Out the Town. 19 

a house and garden was located in the town plot, and the rest 
was assigned in the outlying land. 

The eight squares surrounding the market place were 
called ''quarters" and were named after the most prominent 
resident upon each. Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport were the 
leaders of the colony, and naturally had the first choice of 
land. Mr. Eaton was the wealthiest of the settlers, his estate 
being worth three thousand pounds, or about fifteen thousand 
dollars, a much larger sum for those days than for these. Mr. 
Davenport was one of nine men whose estates were one thou- 
sand pounds each. 

"Mr. Eaton's quarter" was that bounded by Elm, State, 
Grove and Church streets. His home lot was on Elm street, 
reaching across what is now Orange street. A number of his 
relatives came to Quinnipiac with him, and were assigned lots 
near him. His brother, Mr. Samuel Eaton had the next lot on 
Elm street. It extended to State street. The land of his 
mother ''Old Mrs. Eaton" and his step son David Yale, joined 
his at the rear, and faced on Grove street. 

"Mr. Davenport's quarter" was the one bounded by Elm, 
State, Chapel and Church streets. His home lot was directly 
opposite Mr. Eaton's but was not so large. He had, however, 
in addition, a strip of land eight feet wide extending from 
the rear of his home lot to Church street. This is called on 
the first map, "Mr. Davenport's walk," and was used by him 
in coming and going from Church. It came into Church 
street about where Court street is laid out. 

It has been said that each quarter as a whole was fenced, 
every proprietor being responsible for his proportion, but at 
first the individual holdings had no boundaries. Care was 
taken, in assigning land, to put old friends and neighbors near 
each other, both for friendship's sake, and to avoid disputes 
about boundaries. 

The land assigned each proprietor was sufficient in most 



20 Early New Haven. 

cases to occupy all his time, but in case any one wished to cul- 
tivate more land, he was allowed to plant in the ''Neck" be- 
tween Quinnipiac and Mill rivers. 

Besides the planters who were able to invest in the colony 
there were others whose means did not allow them to purchase 
a share, but who desired to become residents. Thirty-two 
small lots on the outside of the town plot were assigned to 
siich persons. 

The next step in the distribution of the land was to divide 
the outlying territory. The "Neck," the salt meadows, and a 
tract of land which, extending in every direction about a mile 
from the town was called the two mile square, were portioned 
out in such a way that each planter received some land in the 
"Neck," some in the meadows and some in the upland of the 
two mile square. 

There was still land lying outside the two mile square, to be 
disposed of, and a few months after the first allotment, a second 
was made. 

Of this land every planter, for every hundred pounds of 
estate given in, was allowed twenty acres of upland, and for 
every member of his family two acres and a half. The land 
in the first allotment was taxed fourpence an acre, and in 
the second twopence an acre. 

When the first division of outlands was made nothing was 
given to those upon whom houselots had been gratuitously be- 
stowed, but at the time of the second allotment they were in- 
cluded in the distribution. Six acres were allowed for a single 
person, eight for a man and his wife, and an acre was added 
for each child they had at the time of allotment. If they ac- 
cepted this land they were to pay taxes at the rate of twopence 
an acre, the same as the others, and if, after accepting it they 
became tired of cultivating it, or thought it easier to make their 
living by their trade, still they were obliged to pay twelve pence 
a year toward public charges. 



Laying Out the Town. 21 

This distribution of land was carried on with the greatest 
fairness, and there were never any complaints of injustice. 
Not even Mr. Eaton had a rod of land more than his exact pro- 
portion. Mr. Davenport was the only exception in the colony. 
He was allowed a little more land than his share, and was, 
moreover, allowed to choose the location of his outlying land. 

On the first day of September, 1640, by order of the General 
Court, the name of the colony was changed from Quinnipiac to 
New Haven. It is not known why it was so called. Daven- 
port had a friend and correspondent in England named Lady 
Vere, and a letter he wrote her is still extant in which he men- 
tions the arrival of the first ship from England at Quinnipiac 
in the summer of 1639. In it he says "The sight of the harbor 
did so please the captain and all the passengers that he called 
it The Fair Haven." Possibly a ship bringing passengers 
from Sussex had weighed anchor in the port of New Haven 
on the coast of Sussex. But the minds of the leaders of the 
colonists were so saturated with the words of Scripture that 
*'a new heaven and a new earth in which dwelleth righteous- 
ness" and "So He bringeth them to their desired haven," might 
have suggested to them the name which was then adopted. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT. 

As soon as the land was portioned out to the planters there 
was great activity in building houses. There was no colony in 
New England which had so large a proportion of well-to-do 
residents, and the houses which they built were unusually good 
for those days. "New Haven is noted for her fair and stately 
houses/' says one early writer. Many of them were two full 
stories in height, and others were two stories in front and 
one in the rear. Sawyers, carpenters and thatchers were much 
in demand, and many men followed several different trades, 
working at each as his services were needed. The planters 
were obliged to cut down trees, to get out plank and timber, to 
dig cellars and wells, to thatch roofs, etc., but so busily they 
worked that by Fall most of them were housed. Probably 
many of the houses were unfinished when their owners moved 
in, but at all events they kept out the wind and weather, and 
were finished afterward at the convenience of the occupants. 

The crops were large, and barns to house them were a neces- 
sity. One man, Robert Newman by name, must have been 
either an excellent farmer of his own land, or he must have 
cultivated land in the outlying district, for he built a barn so 
large that it is mentioned in the records as ''ye mighty barn of 
Robert Newman." 

The fencing of the quarters called for much additional 
labor, so that it is not surprising that over a year elapsed before 
the planters were able to meet together to formally organize 
their government. There had been neighborhood meetings for 
prayer, every Sunday, and many preaching services, but the 
time had now come for united action. 

Robert Newman's house lot was on Grove street facing 



The Fundamental Agreement. 23 

Hillhouse avenue, where the Historical Society Building now 
stands. He had built "a mighty barn'' which was ready for 
the abundant crops, but in June these were still growing, and 
the barn was put at the disposal of the planters, who gathered 
there to lay ''the foundations of the Church and State." Mr. 
Davenport preached from the text "V/isdom Ij.ath builded her 
house : she hath hewn out her seven pillars." Then the planters 
were warned not to be rash about voting, but to cast their 
votes in such a way that they would be willing to have them 
"stand upon record for posterity." After the meeting the 
• planters unanimously voted to submit, not only in Church mat- 
ters, but in matters of law as well to the rule of the Scriptures. 
It was also voted, not unanimously, but with only one dis- 
senting voice, that no man should be admitted as a citizen of 
the town unless he were a Church member. Mr. Samuel Eaton^ 
the brother of Theophilus Eaton, gave in his vote in the nega- 
tive. There had been a good deal of discussion between Mr. 
Davenport and him regarding this matter, and Mr. Davenport 
had had fears that Eaton might influence a good many others^ 
but when the question was put to vote, he was the only dissenter. 
Then the planters elected from their number twelve men of 
high standing in the community, and these twelve men, after- 
wards meeting in private, chose seven out of their number. 
Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, Robert Newman, Matthew 
Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John Punderson and Jeremiah Dixon 
were the "seven pillars," which "wisdom had hewn out." These 
seven persons covenanted together, and then received others 
into their fellowship, and thus the First Church of Christ in 
New Haven was formed on the 226. of August, 1639. 

A great deal has been said and written about this gathering in 
Newman's barn. Many people have thought that the restriction 
of the privilege of voting to Church members only was a proof 
of the fanaticism and bigotry of the first settlers of New 



24 Early New Haven. 

Haven. Others have maintained that in a new colony, "whose 
design was reHgion" as they expressly declare, the only way to 
keep its affairs from becoming, sooner or later, the charge of 
irreligious men was to establish such a rule. It was established 
and was called "The Fundamental Agreement" meaning that 
the very^ foundation on which the colony stood w^as that only 
members of the church should have the privilege of voting. 



CHAPTER V. 

COMMERCE. 

It would seem that a colony so pleasantly situated with men 
of so much ability at the head of affairs and with so many men 
of property among its settlers would have been successful from 
the very first, and the colonists were full of hopes for a bright 
future. They planted much land, intending after the wants 
of the settlers had been supplied to sell the surplus of their 
crops to the settlers in other colonies. They Avere on friendly 
terms with the Ouinnipiac Indians, from whom they bought 
their land, and bartered with them for skins and furs, which 
they hoped to sell to advantage. 

But the Quinnipiacs were a small and feeble tribe and the 
country was not rich in game The skins which were brought 
in were thin and small, and it became necessary to go farther 
away from home and deal with other tribes. 

In the winter of 1638-39, George Lamberton, one of the 
planters, went trading to Virginia. He found that the Indians 
along the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers were bringing in 
a great many very fine furs and skins, and that there was a 
good opening for barter among them. When he returned to 
Quinnipiac he laid the matter before the leading men of the 
colony, and as a result a company w^as formed called The 
Delaware Company, for the purpose of trading with the In- 
dians. Captain Nathaniel Turner w^ent to see what could be 
done about purchasing land from the Indians, and in 1640 he 
bought the southwestern coast of New Jersey and some land 
near Philadelphia. 

A number of trading houses were erected, some fifty fam- 
ilies removed to the place, and for awhile the enterprise pros- 
pered, but the Dutch claimed the New Haven people were on 



26 Early New Haven. 

their territory, and they seized their goods, burned their trad- 
ing houses and imprisoned some of their men. The people 
who had gone there full of hope straggled back again, poor and 
disheartened. They did not at once give up all hope of sac- 
cess in this direction, for several times parties of men went back 
to the region, but no more posts were established, and it became 
evident that the whole enterprise was a failure. It was a cruel 
blow to the colony, for it had cost them a thousand pounds,, 
which they could ill afford to loss. 

The hopes the planters had entertained of raising large 
crops were also disappointed. The great crops of the summer 
of 1638 were never jepeated. The land was sandy, and the 
soil was poor. It was with difficulty that the planters could 
raise enough for their own use, and there was no surplus for 
export. At home in England they had been used to the com- 
forts of life, and they expected too much of a new country. 
They built better houses than they ought to have built, and in 
many ways spent money they should have saved. More money 
went out of the Colony than came in, and they were growing 
poorer all the time. The settlers were full of gloomy forebod- 
ings. They seriously thought of abandoning the colony and 
trying their fortunes elsewhere. They came very near migra- 
ting to Delaware in a body, at the time when prospects there 
seemed so encouraging. The Rev. William Hooke, Mr. 
Davenport's colleague, was a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, and 
the Protector took a great interest in the affairs of the New 
Haven Colony. After the collapse of the Delaware Company, 
Cromwell wrote to Davenport, urging them to remove to 
Jamaica, and he made them generous offers of assistance, later, 
if they would settle in Ireland. 

But Mr. Davenport was unwilling to abandon the colony 
to which he had given so many years of his life and in which 
he believed that government was established according to the 



Commerce. 27 

will of God, and he used all his influence to persuade the set- 
tlers to remain where they were. 

But something must be done. They could not see their 
property melt away without taking some steps to improve the 
condition of affairs. They had previously to this sent their 
goods for foreign exports by sloops to Boston, there to be trans- 
ferred to the larger vessels owned by the Massachusetts Bay 
Company, but they fancied if they owned a ship of their own 
their ventures might be more successful. They therefore 
formed a company called The Ship Fellowship, and either 
bought or built a ship which was made ready for sea in 1646. 
One writer says the ship was built in Rhode Island. She was 
chartered for a voyage to London by another association called 
"The Company of the Merchants of New Haven." 

This company of merchants consisted of Mr. Theophilus 
Eaton, now Governor, Mr. Stephen Goodyear, Deputy Gov- 
ernor, Mr. Richard Malbon and Mr. Thomas Gregson. She 
was laden with pease and some wheat, all in bulk, with about 
two hundred West India hides and stores of beaver and plate, 
worth in all about five thousand pounds. Seventy persons em- 
barked in her, ten of whom were members of the Church. Mr. 
Thomas Gregson, who was going to England to procure a 
charter for the colony, Captain Nathaniel Turner, and Mrs. 
Goodyear, wife of the Deputy Governor, "a right godly 
woman" were among them. In January, 1646, the harbor 
being frozen over, a passage was cut through the ice with saws 
for three miles, out to the open waters of the harbor. Mr. 
Davenport and a great company of the people went out upon 
the ice to give the last farewell to their friends. Mr. Davenport 
made a prayer, in which he said, with marked emphasis "Lord, 
if it be they pleasure to bury these our friends in the bottom of 
the sea, they are thine, save them." Then the vessel spread 
its sails, and began its voyage to England. It was never heard 



28 Early New Haven. 

from. Soon after she started a great tempest arose and it was 
thought she foundered in the gale. 

It was not a well built ship, and fears were often expressed 
by Captain Lamberton, who was her master, before she left 
port, as to the safety of the passengers and freight. More- 
over, she was badly laden, the lighter goods being at the bot- 
tom. Wheat, too, has a tendency to shift in a storm, and part 
of her lading was wheat. Mr. Davenport had sent his sermons 
and diary to England by her, probably for publication, and 
Mr. Hooke, minister of the first church in Hartford, also sent 
his. Mr. Davenport and Mr. Hooke both rewrote part of 
their manuscript, but Mr. Davenport's diary could never be 
re-written. 

As spring came on, and ships began to arrive from London 
the colonists looked for news from their venture, but no news 
came. Many prayers, both in public and private were offered 
for her safety, and God was implored to let them at least know 
the fate of their absent friends. There was a possibility of a 
worse fate than death, for vessels sometimes fell into the hands 
of pirates who might keep the passengers as life long prisoners. 

In June, 1648, toward evening there was a great thunder- 
storm. Then the air cleared, and the sky was serene as it 
often is after atmospheric disturbance, when suddenly a strange 
sight was seen in the sky. It lasted for over a quarter of an 
hour, and was beheld by many men, women and children. In 
the sky, over the harbor, was the representation of a ship, 
with her sails set, and full as if blown out by the gale. The 
ship sailed along, over the harbor, against the wind until she 
was over the landing place (at the corner of George and 
Meadow streets). On deck could be seen a man standing, 
brandishing in his hand a sword. As the people stood watch- 
ing it, awestruck, the little children crying out "What a fine 
ship," a puff of smoke was seen on the side of the ship away 



Commerce. 29 

from the land, and in the smoke she vanished away. Some of 
the people declared they saw her keel sink into the water. 
Mr. Davenport declared in public that this sight was wrought 
by God that people might know the fate of the ship. 

In Cotton Mather's Magnalia the story is written in a letter 
by Rev. Mr. Pierpont, the second minister of the Center 
Church to Mr. Mather. The event occurred before his 
time, but he had seen and conversed with many eye witnesses 
of it, and he believed firmly in the truth of the story. 

Times had been hard before this, but the loss of the Great 
Shippe, with its precious cargo, and the still more irreparable 
loss of many persons prominent in the community, brought 
the colony to a condition of almost complete despair. They 
could not go away, for all their available capital had been put 
into the ship. They still had their houses, farms and abundance 
of firewood, and they lived through their "lean years" after a 
fashion. Mr. Goodyear established iron works in East Haven 
in 1655, and this helped the colony in some degree. 

There was little money in circulation, and wheat, rye, pease 
and maize, flax seed, beaver skins and wampum were the sub- 
stitutes. Sugar from the Barbadoes was also a medium of ex- 
change. There are on record several cases where land was 
bought, payment being made in sugar. Shelter Island was 
owned by Deputy Governor Goodyear, who sold it for sixteen 
hundred pounds of muscovado sugar (unrefined or moist 
sugar) . 

Lieutenant Budd, who lived on the northeast corner of 
Church and Crown streets, where the Connecticut Savings 
Bank building now stands, moved to Southold, Long Island 
about 1643 ^1^^ sold his house and lot for a hogshead of sugar. 
In 1665 a contribution was taken up for "the saints in need" in 
England. Payment was made to the deacons in grain and other 
commodities. It was sent to Barbadoes and exchanged for 



30 Early New Haven. 

sugar to the value of about ninety pounds, and was disposed of 
to several poor ministers and minister's widows. 

Besides the settlement at Quinnipiac, there were other plan- 
tations nearby, organized under the same Fundamental Agree- 
ment, and in 1643 the colony or jurisdiction of New Haven 
was founded, which included Branford, Milford, Guilford, 
Stamford and Southold, Long Island. These plantations sent 
magistrates to sit in the General Court in New Haven, and 
Eaton was elected governor every year during his life. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE MEETING HOUSE. 

The first meeting house was begun in 1639, probably as 
soon as the planters had shelter for themselves. They raised 
the money for building by laying a tax of twenty-five shillings 
on every hundred pounds of property, and this brought in five 
hundred pounds. The house was built of wood, from trees 
cut in the market place. It was fifty feet square, with a turret 
and tower, and a railing around the roof. It is not certainly 
known, but it is thought it faced East, and it stood in the exact 
center of the Green. It had a middle aisle and two side aisles. 
Right and left of the pulpit the seats were placed at right 
angles to the others, as we often see them arranged at the 
present time. 

The minister sat behind the pulpit, and immediately in front 
of the pulpit sat the ruling elder, and before him the deacons. 
The Rev. Thomas Hooke was chosen as teaching elder, and sat 
with Mr. Davenport behind the pulpit. He took turns with 
Davenport in preaching, and though not so revered in the colony 
as Davenport, was still highly esteemed. After his return 
to England, the Rev. Nicholas Street succeeded him. 

Robert Newman and Matthew Gilbert were the two dea- 
cons, and later Robert Newman was chosen as ruling elder, and 
William Peck was made deacon. The officers of the Church 
thus sat facing the congregation. 

In front of the deacon's seat was a table on a hinge, which 
was used on Communion Sundays. 

i\s one entered, the left hand side of the middle aisle was 
reserved for the men, and the right hand side for the women. 
The men wore their hats in meeting, but the boys were obliged 



$2 Early New Haven. 

to remove their head coverings. The Httle children sat with 
their mothers, the young men were seated in one gahery and 
the young women in the other. The behavior of the boys was 
sometimes very indecorous, and an officer of the chuch, called 
the tithing man, was appointed to keep the boys in order. Cer- 
tain seats were assigned in the body of the house, near the 
door, to the town militia, and in the turret of the church a sen- 
tinel was posted to give warning of any disturbance on the part 
of the Indians. In addition, a few of the soldiers were ap- 
pointed to walk around the meeting house during the services. 
At one time boys under sixteen were obliged to sit with the 
soldiers, as it was thought that fighting men could obtain better 
discipline than the tithing man, but sometimes the behavior of 
the soldiers themselves was open to criticism. One fourth of 
them were required to be on duty every ^Sunday and they were 
all obliged to come to meeting fully armed. All the planters 
were required to wear swords, except Mr. Eaton, Mr. Daven- 
port, Mr. Samuel Eaton, Mr. James and the two deacons. 
The planters by this time felt sure of the friendliness of the 
Ouinnipiacs, but there were hostile tribes at no great distance 
and the settlers felt it was prudent to be cautious. The town 
owned six pieces of artillery, three of which were placed near 
the meeting house, and three near the landing, at the corner of 
Meadow and Water streets. 

There was no bell, and the beat of the drum called the peo- 
ple together for all public services. The first drum on Sunday 
was beaten at eight o'clock. The second one, beaten at nine 
o'clock was the signal for assembling at the church for public 
worship. Jarvis Boykin was town drummer. His salary was 
five pounds a year. His duties were to drum at sunrise and 
sunset, in the tower of the meeting house before service, and 
through the streets of the town on Sunday. He also beat the 



The Meeting House. 33 

call to town meetings, which were held for years in the meeting 
house. 

For many years the building was unwarmed in winter. It 
was thought it would be more comfortable to have the glass 
windows removed in cold weather and the openings boarded 
up. Possibly this kept out some wind, but it made the interior 
very dark and gloomy, as well as damp and chill. On very 
cold winter days water froze in the baptismal bowl, and bread 
on the communion plates. 

Footstoves were in use among the women. These were 
small perforated iron boxes, furnished with wooden handles. A 
few live coals, placed in one of them, gave out heat for some 
time. These boxes were used as footstools. 

After the morning service, there was an interval for rest 
and refreshment, and during the winter, warmth as well must 
have been sorely needed. The interval was not long enough 
for people living at a distance to go home and return before 
the afternoon service, which began at two o'clock. These 
people generally came to church on horseback, and some sort 
of shelter for their horses became necessary. 

Consequently a number of rough little houses were built near 
the Green. These were called ''Sabba Day Houses." They 
were built with but one room, but the room had a chimney, 
and therefore a fire was a possibility. They contained a table 
and a bench or two by way of furniture. The people to whom 
these houses belonged came to them on Sunday some time 
before morning service began, built their fires and stabled their 
horses in a corner. By noon the logs had burned down to 
beds of glowing coals, and the air of the little room was warm 
and balmy. Here the people ate the food they had brought 
from home, while the horses ate their fodder. The women 
could replenish the contents of their footstoves and they could 
all warm themselves again after the second service, which was 
3 



34 ' Early New Haven. 

shorter, before returning to their homes. In some cases a 
family owned its Sabba Day house, but it was cheaper and 
more sociable for several families to own and use one in com- 
mon. Two or three of these Sabba Day houses stood on the 
south side of Elm street between High and York streets, and 
there was at least one on the north side of the Green, between 
Temple and Church streets. 

The services in the Church were not unlike those in the 
Congregational Churches to-day. There were prayers, the 
singing of psalms, reading of the Bible, the minister stopping 
at every few verses to explain the meaning of some passage, 
and a sermon. The men stood in prayer, and the custom sur- 
vived among the elder men, at least in the Center Church until 
a recent period. The minister placed his hour glass on the 
pulpit when he began his sermon, and usually stopped when 
the sands had run out, but if his topic seemed to him especially 
important or interesting, he would turn the hour glass and 
keep on with his preaching. There was one peculiarity about 
the service in the New Haven meeting house. When sermon 
time came, the whole congregation rose to hear the text. One 
Sunday morning Mr. Davenport preached a sermon on rever- 
encing the Word of God, and said how fitting it would be to 
evince such reverence by standing when the passage of vScrip- 
ture which was to be expounded, was read to the congregation. 
People went home after service and talked this matter over in 
their families, for the sermon was the great event of the week, 
and was always discussed with interest. In the afternoon the 
congregation gathered again. The prayers were made, the 
psalms were sung and the Bible was read. Then the minister 
rose to announce his text, and the whole congregation rose to 
their feet with him. A letter is extant from a stranger who 
happened to be in Church that morning, telling of the sermon 
and how the congregation responded to the suggestion in the 



The Meeting House. 35 

afternoon. A contribution was made each Sunday, every per- 
son passing to the front to deposit his or her ahns. 

There were two mid-week meetings. On Tuesdays the 
Church had a meeting by itself, perhaps not every week, but 
as often as was necessary to settle Church matters, and on 
Thursdays was held what we call a prayer or conference meet- 
ing, open to all. 

It has been said that every person had his place in the 
meeting house. More than this, his place was assigned him 
according to his standing in the community. There was a 
committee appointed to seat people according to their dignity 
and importance, and assigning each person to his proper seat 
was called ''Dignifying the Meeting House." The first settlers 
of New Haven, like its citizens of to-day, were of different 
stations in life. There were about twenty who were not 
obliged to work for a living. These had the title ''Mr.'^ The 
Church members were called Brother and Sister and the rest 
of the community, above a certain rank were called Goodman 
and Goody. No seats were assigned to anyone whose rank 
was inferior to Goodman or Goody. Everyone must make 
his appearance in meeting, but these people of lowest rank 
must sit wherever they could find a place, which, of course, 
varied from week to week. 

It was a very delicate matter for the committee to seat the 
people to the satisfaction of all concerned. One's seat showed 
exactly his place in the estimation of the community, and many 
an ambitious man and woman felt injured at having a seat so 
much less desirable than it was felt was deserved. Of course, 
there was no disputing the superior rank of a certain number 
of the settlers, but as the social scale was descended, it became 
harder to decide between conflicting interests, and a great deal 
of heart burning and jealousy was the result. 

The pews, which were really benches, were long and could 



36 Early New Haven. 

accommodate seven persons, but to the chief seats only two or 
three persons were assigned, as the amount of space each per- 
son was allowed, was proportioned to the dignity of the indi- 
vidual. Governor Eaton and the Deputy Governor, Mr. Good- 
year, occupied the first seat, directly under the pulpit, and Mr. 
Malbon, the magistrate, sat in the seat behind them. Mrs. 
Eaton and her mother-in-law sat in the first woman's seat, and 
Mrs. Davenport and three other ladies sat in the second seat. 
Farther back, and in the side aisles, the people were crowded 
together, and there were seats and benches in the aisles, and 
in front. of the front pews, that every one might have a place 
somewhere. 1 

The logs of which the first meeting house was built, must 1 
have been decayed from the first for after a very few years the : 
building began to show so many signs of decay that the builders I 
were brought before the General Court to answer for their 1 
poor work. Two pillars were put in to shore up the roof, and j 
the town drummer was ordered not to beat the drum in the ' 
tower any longer. Then the tower and turret were removed, j 
because of the weight on the roof, and in 1668 it became neces- 1 
sary to have a new building. This was built to the east of the I 
old one, W'hich was used until the new house was ready for 
occupancy. 

William Preston and his wife were appointed keepers of the I 
meeting house. Mr. Preston's part of the work was to open j 
and close the meeting house doors. Mrs. Preston's duty was ! 
to sweep it and keep it in order, and the town paid her a shilling ; 
a week. We are not told what Mr. Preston received for his \ 
arduous labors. There was no caring for the furnace, for fire ' 
there was none, and probably no snow was shoveled away, as j 
there were no walks laid out on the Green for many years. The \ 
Prestons lived at the southwest corner of State and Chapel | 
streets. The East Creek flowed a little east of State street, ; 



The Meeting House. 37 

about on a line with the railway, and after the settlers had 
deepened and widened the channel, boats could be floated up ''as 
far as William Preston's," so the old records state. 

In 1682 a vessel came into port with a bell on board. The 
town tested it for a year and a half before buying, and it was 
then hung in the turret of the meeting house as a town bell. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE GREEN. 

Of the nine squares into which the town plot of New Haven 
was divided, the central one was reserved for a common, and 
was used for all public purposes. It was a training ground 
for the militia; it was the place of public meeting; it w^as the 
market place. The first church was erected here, and the first 
schoolhouse, and part of it was reserved for use as a burying 
ground. Its surface was very uneven, and the slope from west 
to east was great. Moreover, the growth of underbrush was 
so dense that it has been said that if a body of soldiers had been 
stationed on the east side of the Green, and a similar company 
at the west side, they would have been invisible to each other. 
The lower part of the Green, between Temple and Church 
streets, was very swampy, and for years swamp shrubs, whose 
straight stalks the Indians used for their arrows, could be 
gathered where the town pump now stands. Across the 
swampy part, from the door of the meeting house to the east 
side of the Green, a raised path, or causeway was made, a little 
north of the Court street entrance. A small stream of water 
rose in the moist corner by the town pump, flowed southeasterly 
through the wood and emptied into the East Creek. Cows, 
swine and geese all fed in the market place and it was covered 
with stones, barberry and huckleberry bushes, sorrel and other 
weeds. The trees upon it were cut down, partly to furnish fuel 
for the planters, and partly for logs for the first church and 
other buildings, and the unsightly stumps dotted the ground in 
every direction. The land was unfenced, and the road to the 
west ran diagonally across it, from what is now the corner of 
Church and Chapel streets to the corner of College and Elm 
streets. The track was not alwavs very carefully followed, and 



The Green. 39 

the ground was muddy and rutted for a good space on each 
side of the road. 

As a watch was kept all night and every night by a certain 
number of the inhabitants, it was necessary to provide a cen- 
tral place of meeting for the men, and the watch house was 
built near the corner of College and Elm streets. There were 
many delinquents, not among the planters themselves, but 
among the servants and slaves they had brought with them, 
and a prison house was also a necessity. This was built nearly 
opposite where the Phelps gateway now stands. The stocks 
and whipping post followed in due course. It was some little 
time before a schoolhouse was built, for the first school was 
held in the house of its teacher, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever. The 
exact location of the schoolhouse is not known, but it is 
thought, by competent authority, to have stood a little north 
of the United Church. 

Men who brought wagon loads of produce to market drove 
into the Green from any point which was convenient for them, 
so the entire surface of the ground was rutted, rough and bar- 
ren. As time went on, "English grass" began to grow in some 
places and it was made a punishable ofifense to destroy it. The 
tree stumps in the course of years decayed so that they could 
be pulled up, and the bushes were cut down, but it was not until 
1759 that the planting of trees was begun. When the town was 
invaded by the British in 1779, it is said that General Garth 
declared that "the town was too pretty to burn." Probably the 
beauty of the trees had much to do with creating this impres- 
sion. In 1 701 New Haven was made a co-capital with Hartford, 
and the General Assembly, which then met twice a year, began 
holding its October sessions here. 

The first Court House was built on the northwest corner 
of the Green, adjoining the County House, in 1719, and in 1763 
the second one was built a little north of where Triiiitv Church 



40 Early New Haven. 

now stands. In the belfry of this building was hung the bell i 
which had been bought for the meeting house in 1684. A I 
new bell had replaced it in the belfry of the First Church, and | 
the old one had been purchased for the Court House. In this | 
building the political, civil, judicial and social life of New ' 
Haven centered for more than sixty years. The town and pub- | 
lie meetings connected with the French and Indian war, with I 
the opposition to the Stamp Act, and with the preparation and ■ 
progress of the Revolution were all held here. On the day the ; 
Stamp Act went into operation, Nov. i, 1765, the chuch bell, I 
the bell of the college and the bell of the State House, tolled 
dismally at intervals all day. In 1828 the building was torn ; 
down, and much of its material was used in the construction of , 
its successor, which was built on the Green, near College street, [ 
and nearly opposite Farnam College. In this building General 
Jackson was addressed by the Governor of the State and the 
Mayor of the city. In 1838, the two hundreth anniversary of i 
the settlement of the town was celebrated, and the long proces- ! 
sion, wdiich passed in its line of march all the historic locations ; 
in the city, formed in front of the south portico of this building. I 
In 1865, when the news of the assassination of President Lin- 
coln reached New Haven, the largest concourse of people j 
which New Haven had then ever seen, collected on and around j 
the State House steps, while addresses were made by distin- j 
guished citizens. The gathering on the Green on the day of I 
the memorial services for President McKinley was much 1 
larger but hardly so representative. i 

Many other interesting public meetings have been held in 
the State House, and many notable strangers have there been 
welcomed. From the south porch, Kossuth, the patriot of Hun- 
gary, addressed the people of the town on the occasion of his 
visit to New Haven. 

In 1889 t^^^ State House was removed. There was much 



The Green. 41 

opposition to its removal on the part of many of our older citi- 
zens, who thought that the building might be repaired and 
used for many public purposes, but it was found that the 
estimated cost of making even the most necessary repairs would 
be greater than the financial condition of the city would justify. 
**It fell, and great was the fall of it." Over seven thousand 
cart loads of rubbish were taken away and when the ground 
was levelled, and the grass had taken root,' the Green looked so 
much better without it that few, if any, of those citizens who 
had taken an active part in opposing its removal really regretted 
that their protests had not been heeded. 

The present Center Church is the fourth structure built on 
or near the same site. The first one was begun in 1639, the 
second in 1668, the third, called the New Brick Meeting House, 
was finished in 1757, and the present building in 1814. The 
Fair Haven Church building was near where the United Church 
now stands, and was built in 1772. The North Church now 
the United Church, succeeded it in 1814. Trinity Church was 
also begun in 18 14. 

Thus the three churches which are now standing on the 
Green were all in process of erection at the same time. It was a 
difficult matter to get cargoes of lumber through the Sound 
at this time, owing to the embargo of the war of 1812. The lum- 
ber for the Center Church was readily allowed to pass, as it was 
for a religious edifice, but the same plea for a cargo for a sec- 
ond church met with suspicion, and it was with great difficulty 
that the same true reason was accepted for the third time. In 
1800 the first fence was built around the Green. It was of 
wood, painted white, having squared and pointed posts, and 
an upper and lower rail which were also squared. It enclosed 
the Green on both sides of Temple street, as is shown by a 
painting of the period. This fence stood until 1846, when it 
was succeeded by the present one, the old one being removed 



42 Early New Haven. 

to Milford. The burying ground had been enclosed in a rough 
board fence, painted red., before 1775, for it is shown on the 
Stiles map of 1775. 

The First Methodist Church was built on the northwest 
corner of the Green in 1821, very near where the first State 
and Court House had been built. The second State House 
having been torn down in 1828 and the third one not being 
ready for occupancy until 1831, th^ courts held their sessions 
for that interval in the basement of the church. In 1848 the 
present house of worship on the corner of Elm and College 
streets was built. 

The old jail and Court House had been removed from the 
Green in 1784, and the old market house which had been built 
on the southeast corner of the Green, was removed abut 1798 
or 1799. 

The whipping post had been moved to the front of the sec- 
ond State and Court House, and then removed to the southeast 
corner of the Green. Whipping ceased to be a legal penalty 
in 1825, and the post was used for legal notices. The present 
sign post is a lineal descendant of the whipping post. 

In the Spring of 1787, Mr. James Hillhouse drew up a 
paper to which many citizens subscribed, each one stating the 
amount he would give toward beautifying the Green by olant- 
ing trees and preventing the washing away of the earth. Mr. 
Hillhouse had a born genius for leadership, and was an untiring 
worker. He stimulated the little town of less than a thousand 
families so that even the children were aroused to help him. 
President Day, of New Haven, then a young man, drove the 
guiding stakes for some of the trees, and Judge Baldwin, 
then a boy of twelve or fourteen years, said, long 
afterwards, "I held many an elm, while Hillhouse shovelled 
in the earth.^' Rev. David Austin planted the inner rows of 
elms on the east and west sides of the lower Green. 

Cows from the town poorhouse were pastured on the < ireen 



The Green. 43. 

as late as 1830, and before that the citizens had right of pas- 
turage there. The upper Green was then very sandy in places, 
but after repeated attempts had been made to seed it, the grass 
took root, and large crops of hay were raised. Sixty years 
ago the grass was allowed to grow as in any field, and after hay- 
ing time the haycocks dotted the surface of the Green. 

The invasion of the elm tree beetle, some fifty years ago, 
hai. been very injurious to our elm trees. During the term of 
office of Mayor Aaron N. Skinner, maple trees were planted 
on the upper Green, as the beetle does not attack maples. 

The flag stafif is a successor of the liberty pole which was 
set up about 1775. Ihe bandstand, was first placed near the 
flag stafl.', and is now nearly in line with Temple street. 

In all the early records the Green is called the market place, 
or common. It is not known when first the name of The Green 
was given it, but in 1779 the name appears in print. 

The few enjoyments and diversions which the colonists al- 
lowed themselves, centered around the Green, and were looked 
forward to with much eagerness, especially by the young. There 
was a General Training Day three times a year, when the peo- 
ple gathered on the Green to witness the manoeuvres of the 
militia and to watch the games in which they indulged. 

Elections were held in May and October, and these days, 
also, brought the people to the market square. These were 
times when a great deal of bartering was done, and people 
who had come in from the country stayed through the day. 
The townspeople kept open house and were expected to enter- 
tain their callers with food and drink. The drink was 
generally cider, and the food was spiced cake with currants and 
raisins baked in it. Every good housekeeper had her own rule 
for election cake, and many of these receipes have been handed 
down to New Haven housekeepers of to-day. There were 
also two fairs, for the sale of cattle and other merchandise^ 
which were held in May and September. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE HOMES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

Thanks to the old copy of the map of 1641, which so strangely 
came to light and then so strangely disappeared (see Ch. XX) 
we know where the home lots of the first settlers of New Haven 
were situated. These lots were large, and as there are no 
houses marked on the map, we do not know, except in a very 
few cases, on what part of his lot a man's house was situated, 
and in the case of a corner lot we do not know which way the 
house fronted. We do know the exact location of Mr. Daven- 
port's house, for its cellar was not disturbed until 1878-9, 
and many living citizens of New Haven have visited it. We 
know, too, that Governor Eaton*s house was directly opposite, 
and we know that Mr. Isaac Allerton's house, on the corner of 
Fair and Union streets, had four porches, one presumably on 
Fair, and one on Union streets. 

The streets were not named for many years after, nor were 
the streets subdividing the original squares cut through, but the 
present names of the streets will be used, that as clear a descrip- 
tion as possible may be given of these interesting spots. 

The home lot of Governor Eaton was on the north side of 
Elm street between Grove and Church streets. Orange street 
was not then laid out, and his land extended toward Church, 
including the intersection of Orange with Elm streets. It is 
thought his house stood about where Dr. Verdi's house now 
stands. 

Mr. Davenport's house stood on the site of the Presbyterian 
Church, on the south side of Elm street. His land, too, in- 
cluded Orange street on the south side of Elm. A good deal 
more is known concerning these two houses than anv others 



The Homes of the First Settlers. 45 

built at the time, and they are more fully described in the 
chapter "Eaton and Davenport." 

Captain Nathaniel Turner lived on the east side of Church 
street not far from Grove, his land including Wall street. 
Some years ago, when excavations for water pipes were being 
made on Wall street at its intersection with Church street on 
the east side, at a considerable distance below the surface was 
found the remains of an ancient cellar, which has been supposed 
to be that of Captain Turners dwelling. Captain Turner was 
the military commander of the colony, and it is thought he was 
assigned land in this quarter because the Indians, whose lands 
adjoined the Quinnipiacs, and of whom the settlers lived in 
continual fear^ were likely, in case of an invasion, to enter the 
settlement from the northeast. There is frequent mention of 
him in the colony records, and he was often employed in the ser- 
vice of the colony. He was lost at sea in 1646, being one of the 
passengers of the "Great Shippe" commanded by Captain 
Lamberton. 

No one can speak wuth any degree of certainty of the loca- 
tion of any other building. On Ashmun street are still stand- 
ing two houses, which were built by the second generation of 
townsfolk, but none of the first dwellings are standing to-day. 

The four best houses in New Haven were those of Mr. 
Eaton, Mr. Davenport, Mr. Allerton and Mr. Gregson. Mr. 
Allerton was a late comer, and as the land in the nine original 
squares had all been portioned out before his arrival, he was 
forced to build outside the town plot, on the northeast corner 
of Union and Fair streets. It was his granddaughter, Mrs. 
Eyres, who is said to have sheltered the Regicides (see Ch. 
XII). Mr. Allerton is said to lie buried on the lower Green, 
near the flag staff. 

Mr. Thomas Gregson's lot was on the southwest corner of 
Chapel and Church streets, where the Glebe building now 



46 Early New Haven. 

stands. He had been a merchant in London, and was one of 
the most honored men in the community. He sailed for Eng- 
land in 1646, being intrusted with a commission from the col- 
ony of New Haven to obtain, if possible, a charter from Par- 
liament. He, too, was lost at sea, being a passenger in the 
same ship that carried Captain Turner. 

One of Gregson's descendants left his land in New Haven 
to Trinity Church, for Glebe land, the income to be used by the 
church, but other heirs disputed the gift. Trinity Church fin- 
ally bought it to avoid controversy, and Gregson street is named 
for the donor. 

Stephen Goodyear, the Deputy Governor, lived on Chapel 
street, west of Gregson. Temple street is now cut through 
w^hat was once his land. He was a man of the highest standing 
in the community, and his wife was a woman of saintly charac- 
ter. She, too, was a passenger in the "Great Shippe." 

Matthew Gilbert, who was one of the first deacons of the 
Church, lived on the northeast corner of Church and Chapel 
streets, where Riker's drug store now stands. He lies buried in 
the rear of Center Church. The little stone marked M. G. 
hias been thought by some people to have been placed at his 
grave, but the reasons for disbelief in this theory are given in 
the chapter on James Dixwell. 

Ezekiel Cheever, the first schoolmaster in New Haven, lived 
on the southeast corner of Church and Grove streets, next to 
Captain Turner. Soon after he came he opened a school in 
his own house. 

The lot on the southeast corner of Church and Elm streets 
was held by the settlers as a parsonage lot, if at Mr. Davenport's 
death or removal it should be needed, but afterward the lot ap- 
portioned to Mrs. Eldred, a lady who had taken shares in the 
colony, but remained in England, was reserved as a parson- 
age lot, and the former one was granted to Nicholas Augur, 



The Homes of the First Settlers. 47 

who practised medicine in New Haven from 1643 to 1676, 
when he perished by shipwreck on an uninhabited island off 
Cape Sable. 

The Rev. William Hooke, Mr. Davenport's colleague, lived 
on the southwest corner of College and Chapel streets. When 
he returned to England he left the property to the First Church 
of Christ in New Haven, and the Church leased it for a term of 
nine hundred and ninety-nine years to Yale College. President 
Clap's house was built on this lot, facing on College street, and 
his daughter Mary, who married General Wooster, was the 
Mary Clap Wooster, after whom the New Haven chapter of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution is named. 

John Cooper lived opposite Ezekiel Cheever, on the south- 
west corner of Church and Grove streets. He was the town 
chimney sweep. In the winter chimneys were swept once a 
month, and in summer once in two months. If householders 
preferred to do their own sweeping they might, but if the 
sweeping were badly done. Cooper was allowed to collect 
double rates. He held many minor offices. He kept the pound 
where were imprisoned stray cattle until the owner appeared 
and paid the fine ; he was town crier, going through the streets 
ringing a bell, and calling out what was lost, strayed or stolen ; 
he was inspector of fences and later in life was chosen deputy 
at town meetings. 



CHAPTER IX. 

INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. 

As times went on, and the children of the first settlers grew 
to manhood and womanhood, there arose divisions in the col- 
ony. The rule of the leaders was a rigid one, and many of 
the younger men, especially those who were not Church mem- 
bers, rebelled against the Fundamental Agreement. All the 
settlers were obliged to bear arms, and to take part in all general 
training. They were taxed for non-appearance at town meet- 
ings and other gatherings, yet those who were not Church mem- 
bers had no vote in the management of affairs. After the 
disasters which the Delaware Company experienced, and the 
loss of Captain Lamberton's great ship, the murmuring grew 
lounder than ever. One of the must bitter complaints was made 
in regard to the captain of the town band. Oftentimes the 
most suitable man for this position was not a Church mem- 
ber, and he was therefore ineligible. So much dissatisfaction 
was expressed that an order of the General Court was passed 
providing that in case a man suitable for captain could not be 
found among the Church members, the voters might elect a 
man outside the Church. This was regarded as a great con- 
cession. 

Mr. Eaton's position in the colony of New Haven was unlike 
that of any other layman in any of the colonies. At the very 
outset he was elected chief magistrate and was afterward 
elected governor, holding office until he died. There was no 
such thing as trial by jury. Mr. Eaton, while acting as agent 
in the countries bordering on the Baltic Sea, had seen the 
workings of a system without trial by jury, and approved of 
the method and results. He w^as judge, jury and prosecuting at- 
tornev combined. He ascertained the facts in all cases brouoht 



Internal Dissensions. 49 

before him, decided upon the guilt or innocence of the parties 
accused, and in cases of guilt, decreed the punishment. He 
liked the dignity and authority of his position, and did not de- 
sire to share its honors with anyone. In October, 1642, when 
four deputy magistrates were chosen they were expressly told 
they might assist the court by way of advice, but should have 
no power of sentencing. 

The General Court held its sessions in the meeting house 
until 1 719. These sessions were very frequent, as there were 
many disorderly persons in the community. There were both 
slaves and indentured servants, and while the former were 
governed by their masters and mistresses, the latter were con- 
stantly giving trouble and were in need of much discipline. 

Eaton adopted a paternal tone toward the people who 
were brought before him. He lectured them on their offenses, 
and strove to make them see the error of their ways, and if they 
were properly penitent, and expressed their intention of amend- 
ment, they were sometimes allowed to depart with merely a re- 
buke. Notice was taken not only of misdemeanors and offenses 
against morality, but of every neighborhood scandal or gossip, 
or disrespectful criticism of Mr. Eaton or Mr. Davenport. It 
was thought in other settlements that discipline was too severe 
in New Haven. Mr. Davenport's discipline of Church mem- 
bers was rigorous in the extreme, and Mather, in the Magnalia, 
says, "Mr. Davenport used the golden snuffers of the sanctuary 
over much." 

Infractions of the Fourth Commandment were very severely 
punished. Bearing in mind the verse in Genesis, that "the 
evening and the morning were the first day," the leaders of the 
community held that the Sabbath began on Saturday night at 
sunset. All unnecessary work on Sunday was prohibited, as well 
as all friendly gatherings. Every person who was not provided 
with a good excuse was expected to be in his seat in the meeting 



so Early New Haven. 

house on Sunday, and in case of absence, the cause was ascer- 
tained on the following day. A man named William Blaisdell 
stayed away from church on Sunday, and on Monday gave as 
his reason that he was hunting on Saturday in the rain and 
that as he had no fire to dry his clothing he was forced to stay 
at home on Sunday. This excuse was not considered sufficient, 
and he was sentenced to be severely whipped. 

Two men, riding from Milford to New Haven on Sunday 
were brought before the court for censure, and, as penance for 
their Sabbath breaking, were ordered to make public apology 
before the meeting in Milford as well as in New Haven, as 
they had broken the peace of the Lord's Day equally in both 
places. 

The captains of two vessels lying in New Haven harbor, 
were brought before the Court accused of having worked on 
the Sabbath. They pleaded in extenuation that it was neces- 
sary for them to work to save their vessels, as they were in 
sudden peril by an unexpected high tide. The magistrates told 
them they should have taken pains to place the vessels where 
they could not be imperilled by any rise in the tide. However, 
as they were strangers, the Court agreed to pass the transgres- 
sion by, but noted in their records, that if any of the mariners 
belonging to the colony presumed to take a similar liberty ''the 
sentence would be heavier upon them." 

The Sabbath in New Haven began at sunset on Saturday 
evening, but it did not, as some have thought, end at sunset on 
Sunday evening. The sacred time lasted until Monday, and 
any fault committed on Sunday evening was considered a 
greater offense than if the deed were done on a week-day. A 
man named William Perte, who stole watermelons on Sunday 
evening was publicly whipped, not so much for the magnitude 
of the offense, as for the fact that the theft was committed so 
soon after the Sabbath. In 1659 an ordinance was passed 



Internal Dissensions. 51 

forbidding children and young persons to play or even walk in 
the street Sunday evening, as it was thought the good eitect of 
the sermon would be lost upon them if they were allowed to 
amuse themselves so soon afterward. 

There were many suits for slander in the community. If a 
person gossiped about his neighbors, or spread reports con- 
cerning them, he was quickly brought before the Court, and 
made to prove his words. If a woman were the scandal mon- 
ger, her husband was called upon to pay her fine. Governor 
Newman, who succeeded Governor Eaton, was obliged to pay 
five pounds because Mrs. Newman had spread untrue reports 
concerning one of her neighbors. 

Nor was it safe to make any criticisms of the higher powers. 
If one criticised the decisions of the magistrates or the sermons 
of Mr. Davenport, no matter how privately, if it came to the 
ears of the authorities, he was punished for "speaking evil 
of dignitaries." 

One very interesting trial is on record of three women, of 
good standing in the community. Their names were Mrs. 
Brewster, Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Leach. Mrs. Brewster and 
Mrs. Moore were calling on Mrs. Leach, and the door of the 
room in which they were sitting was closed. They did not 
know that Mrs. Leach's servant was listening at the door. 
The servant heard so much that, not having a good memory, 
she was fearful that she could not remember it all, and she 
called to a man who was also employed on the place to come 
and listen also. 

Mrs. Leach opened the door very quickly, perhaps suspect- 
ing eavesdropping, and finding her two servants there, she re- 
buked them with more vigor than elegance of speech. They, 
fearing her punishment, informed the magistrates of the dis- 
respectful remarks they had overheard, and the three women 
were brought before the Court. They admitted that they had 



52 Early New Haven. 

criticised Mr. Davenport's sermons, had sympathized with peo- 
ple who had been under Church discipHne, and had said that 
the punishment which the magistrates had inflicted in a certain 
case, was cruel. Mrs. Leach also confessed that she had spoken 
very sharply to the servants when she opened the door and 
found them listening. All three of the defendants were found 
guilty, and were bound over to a higher court. What the pen- 
alty was we do not know, for the volume of records in which 
the entry was made, has long been lost, but in all probability 
they were fined. 

Mr. Davenport had taken shares in the Delaware Company, 
but the fact of his interest in it had been kept secret. The ven- 
ture was very disastrous, and when it became known that Mr. 
Davenport had been privately concerned in it, there was much 
comment. A man named Luke Atkinson said, "Mr. Daven- 
port's name had been very precious in the community, but now 
it was darkened.'^ For this he was fined forty pounds, to be 
paid Mr. Davenport, as some compensation for his injured feel- 
ings. 

Fines were inflicted for minor offenses, such as staying 
away from court, not being present at the Watch or at training, 
and there were also laws against lying. In cases of malicious 
michief, if the culprits were unable to pay for the damage they 
had wrought, they might be sold into slavery, the price of the 
offender being given to the one who had sustained the damage. 
This was actually done several times. A boy of twelve years 
and a girl of ten, who had maliciously set fire to a barn, were 
thus sold. 

New Haven was not disgraced with as many persecutions of 
the Quakers, or trials for witchcraft, as some of the colonies. 
Humphrey Norton, a Quaker, preached the doctrines of his 
sect at Southold, L. L, and was brought to New Haven for 
punishment, as Southold was one of the plantations included in 



Internal Dissensions. 53 

the New Haven colony. On Sunday morning, Norton being 
brought to meeting, Mr. Davenport preached a sermon against 
the Quakers which made the prisoner very angry, and he 
showed his wrath by "vehement and boisterous behavior." 
In the afternoon Norton was again brought to meeting, proba- 
bly to hear another sermon of the same kind, but he rose in 
his place and began to tell Mr. Davenport what he, Norton, 
thought of the minister and his doctrines. 

This naturally created some excitement, and Norton was 
stopped and taken out of church ; at his trial it was decreed that 
he be whipped, branded on the hand with the letter H. for 
heretic and banished from the community. 

There were three other persecutions of Quakers. One was 
whipped, one was fined, and the third, a sailor on board a 
vessel in the harbor, who was charged with being a Quaker, 
was not allowed to come on shore with his companions. 

There was but one trial for witchcraft, and although the 
woman had powerful enemies, Mr. Hooke, the colleague of 
Mr, Davenport appearing against her, she was not convicted, 
but lived out her days in peace. There were other wrongdoers 
in. the community, who seem to have escaped the punishment 
which they certainly merited. These were the soldiers. Cer- 
tain seats in the meeting house were assigned to them, and at 
one time the boys under sixteen years of age were obHged to 
occupy the same seats. People whose places were near those 
of the soldiers made many complaints because of their bad 
behavior. They shuffled their feet, pinched and kicked each 
other, teased the boys, threw pieces of lime at one another, and 
on one occasion got into an uproar about a hat, which, taken 
from under its owner's seat, was passed along from one man 
to the next, until the owner lost all knowledge of its where- 
abouts, which he naturally resented. One of the boys, the son 
of Mrs. Goodyear, was seriously injured in the head by the 



54 Early New Haven. 

rough behavior of the soldiers, and complaint was made against 
them. But is was difficult to fasten any specific charge on any 
one of them, and the soldiers were too necessary to the well- 
being of the colony to make it wise to allow any disaffection, 
so they got off with rebuke and little or no punishment. While 
the rest of the meeting house was crowded with extra seats, the 
space from the soldiers seats to the doors was kept clear, so 
that they could easily get out in case of emergency. 

At the same time exalted station in the community did not 
exempt one from punishment if, in the judgment of the Church 
or Court, the penalty was deserved. The case of Mr. Cheever 
is elsewhere noticed. Mrs. Eaton, the wife of the Governor, 
was convicted of views concerning infant baptism such as Mr. 
Davenport and the Church considered heretical, and she was 
brought before the Church for trial. She was not submissive 
and would not own her fault, nor ask for pardon as humbly as 
Mr. Davenport thought proper, and she was excommunicated 
from the Church, her husband's standing in the community 
being all that saved her from banishment. After her husband's 
death she returned to England, where she died. 

The foregoing examples of the treatment of offenders of 
all classes in the colony of New Haven, goes to show that it 
was the intention of the authorities to have everyone in the 
colony lead upright and religious lives. And there was a cause 
for all this rigor of discipline which should be fully under- 
stood. 

Mr. Davenport, Mr. Eaton and the leading men of the col- 
ony were in their religious belief Millenarians. They inter- 
preted the Bible literally, and they thought the text ''Behold the 
Lord cometh, with ten thousand of his saints, to execute Jus- 
tice," meant that Christ would come from heaven" to reign on 
the earth. Other texts of Scripture they interpreted to mean 
that his reign would last for one thousand years." jMoreover, 



Internal Dissensions. 55 

they believed that New Haven was the place He would choose 
for His habitation. The design of the colony was religion, 
and they thought Christ would say 'This is My abode, for I 
have a delight therein." At the expiration of the thousand 
years they thought that the great company of the faithful on 
earth would assemble here, and from here ascend to Heaven. 
This was the reason the market place was made so large. It 
accounts also for the excellent dwellings the colonists made 
haste to rear, and more than all it furnishes the reason for the 
excessive zeal of Mr. Davenport and Mr. Eaton in tr}'ing to 
keep all the colonists, from the least to the greatest, in the ways 
of true doctrine and in righteousness of life. It has been well 
said that ]\Ir. Davenport's great mistake was that "he con- 
founded the devout man with the good citizen." 



CHAPTER X. 

DAVENPORT AND EATON. 

John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, ''the Moses and 
Aaron of the New Haven colony," hved in their boyhood in 
the town of Coventry, England. Eaton was six years the elder, 
but they were schoolfellows and playmates and Eaton's father 
was minister of the Church which Davenport's parents at- 
tended. Eaton had been intended for the Church, but he pre- 
ferred a business life, and while Davenport was still studying, 
he came to London to begin his career. His character was so 
good and his ability so great that he was soon made agent for 
a company of merchants engaged in business in the countries 
bordering on the Baltic Sea. After Davenport had left Oxford 
he was ordained and shortly afterward became Vicar of St. 
Stephen's Church, Coleman street, London. When Eaton re- 
turned to England he became a parishioner of his friend, and 
the boyhood intimacy was renewed, never again to flag during 
his lifetime. 

Although Davenport was a minister of the Established 
Church in England, he disapproved of many of its doctrines 
and practices. There were many clergy and laymen of the 
Church of England at this time, who did not believe in all its 
doctrine, or worship according to its order of service, and these 
men were called Non-Conformists and were persecuted in va- 
rious ways. Non-Conformist ministers were not allowed to 
preach in the Churches, and were deprived of their incomes as 
clergymen. Non-Conformist laymen were both fined and im- 
prisoned. The Bishop of London, Laud, who was afterward 
Archbishop of Canterbury, was especially severe with the Lon- 
don clergy and congregations, and among those who aroused 
his anger for not conforming in every detail of public service 



Davenport and Eaton. 57 

to the ritual as set forth in the prayer book was "the Rev. John 
Davenport of St. Stephen's Church in Coleman street." 

Land's animosity was increased by his knowledge of Dav- 
enport's interest in an association which had been formed to 
promote a more earnest and faithful ministry. A number of 
clergymen belonged to this society, and Davenport was one of 
the trustees. These trustees were brought before the Court, 
their proceedings condemned as illegal, and their funds, 
amounting to six thousand pounds were confiscated. They 
were threatened with trial, imprisonment and fine, but the pro- 
ceedings were at last dropped, and they were left in peace for 
a while. 

But again Mr. Davenport was brought to Court, and this 
time arraigned as a "notorious delinquent,^' because he had sub- 
scribed to a fund designed to help some German ministers who 
had been driven from their homes and churches by the Em- 
peror of Austria. Laud objected to this because the exiles were 
Calvinists or Presbyterians. Again Davenport escaped pun- 
ishment, but it was too evident that Laud was his enemy. 
Davenport's friend, John Cotton had become a Non-Conform- 
ist minister and Davenport had visited him to try to convmce 
him that he ought to return to the Church, but instead of this, 
Cotton persuaded Davenport that it was he who ought to leave 
the Church. He accordingly resigned his charge in 1633, and, 
still fearing Laud, went to Holland, where he was for a while 
colleague to the pastor of an English Presbyterian Church in 
Amsterdam. John Cotton, in the meantime, had come to this 
country, and was the minister of the First Church in Boston. 

Eaton, too, had become a Non-Conformist. His brother 
Samuel was a Non-Conforming minister, and had been arrested 
and imprisoned for holding conventicles, and only released on 
bonds furnished by his brother. Samuel Eaton was one of 
Eaton's family party on board the Hector. Besides his wife 



58 Early New Haven. 

and children, his three step-children, his mother and brother ac- 
companied him. Davenport was accompanied only by his wife, 
his only son remaining in London for some time after. 

Some account has already been given of the departure of 
the colonists, their arrival and short stay in Boston, and their 
final settlement at Quinnipiac. Here, after the land was as- 
signed, they built houses opposite each other. Eaton's house 
was near the northeast corner of Orange and Elm streets. As 
Orange street was not then laid out his land included at least 
part of the Whitney lot. His house must have been very near 
where Dr. Verdi's now stands. On the earliest map of New 
Haven the land assigned each planter is distinctly marked, but 
the location of the house is not given. We know, however, that 
it was opposite Mr. Davenport's, and we know exactly where 
Mr. Davenport's house was — on the site of the Presbyterian 
Church. Under that building may still exist the remains of 
the old cellar of the Davenport house. 

Mr. Eaton's house was by far the finest in the colony. It 
is said to have been shaped like the letter E. From an ancient 
print it seems to have consisted of two houses of moderate size, 
standing with their gables to the road, joined by another build- 
ing whose gables were at the side, the front walls thus forming 
three sides of a square. We know the house was large, for 
it contained nineteen fireplaces. 

Eaton's hospitality was princely. Guests often reniained 
for months at a time, and the inmates of his house were some- 
times thirty in number. He was a stately, dignified man, much 
given to study and prayer. He was appointed magistrate when 
the colony was first organized, and afterward, when the office 
of Governor was created, he held that office for eighteen years 
and until his death, which was very sudden, as he had had no 
previous illness. He lies buried near the southwest wall of the 
Center Church. The Colony of New Haven erected a monu- 



Davenport and Eaton. 59 

ment over his grave, as handsome as their means and the times 
could afford. When the monuments were taken away from the 
old burial ground, the Eaton monument was placed in the 
Jones' lot in the Grove street cemetery. This lot is near the 
head of Linden avenue, only a few yards to the right of the 
entrance. Governor Eaton's daughter married William Jones, 
and many of their descendants lie buried in this lot. 

Eaton's stone was originally a "table tomb," but the sup- 
ports were not preserved, and the stone now lies nearly flat on 
the ground. The epitaph is as follows : 

"Eaton, so brave, so pure, so wise, so just. 
The Phoenix of the world here hides his dust ; 
Forget his fame New England never must." 

The same stone commemorates his daughter Mary and her 
husband. They lie buried near him in the rear of the Center 
Church. 

The inventory of Governor Eaton's propert}^ has been pre- 
served, and gives us an interesting glimpse into what was un- 
doubtedly one of the most luxurious homes of any of the New 
England colonies. The men who appraised his property had 
no small task, for every item, to the very least, of his belong- 
ings, is mentioned and its value given in pounds or shillings. 
All the farming implements are set down, even to "two old 
hoes," all the kitchenware, with the frequently recurring "im- 
primis, one frying pan," and all the odds and ends of rubbish 
that inevitably accumulate in every house. The value of the 
provisions on hand are given, including three hundred weight 
of sugar, valued at eight pounds, and twenty bushels of salt, 
worth four pounds. The value of his wearing apparel was 
fifty pounds. The materials for garments which were to be 
made was also estimated. There were two yards of broad- 
cloth on hand, two yards and a half of cambric, "a remnant of 



6o Early New Haven. 

taffeta sarsenet," "a little remnant of stuff," besides buttons, 
trimmings, thread and hooks and eyes. 

After these, and many similar entries of trifling importance 
had been made, the appraisers of the estate itemize the contents 
of each room separately. The hall is mentioned first. In old 
English houses the hall was not merely the entrance way, but 
the family living room, and was generally the largest room in 
the house. Frequently it was used for the family dining room 
as well, and it must have been a large room to accommodate 
the thirty souls who were at times of Eaton's family. It was 
furnished with a drawing table, which was possibly a dining 
table with leaves, which could be drawn out to accommodate a 
large family, a "round table" for work, or for an overflow of 
diners, "a great chair with needlework" probably the Governor's 
own seat, "high chairs," presumably for his wife and mother 
and for honored guests "high stools" for the rest of the family 
at table, low chairs with needlework, four needlework cushions 
and six green cushions. Evidently the ladies in the family 
had skillful fingers, for needlework cushions seemed to have 
been as plentiful as they are in our houses to-day. There was 
a cupboard, "two long forms" which were probably something 
like settees, and another item of six high stools, probably in 
use when the family was large. On the floor were two Turkey 
carpets," which we should call rugs. Except where these were 
spread down the floor was probably bare. There were evi- 
dently two fireplaces, for mention is made of two pairs of and- 
irons, besides tongs, firepan and bellows. Even in these days 
of comfort and luxury, the hall of Governor Eaton's house 
would be considered a handsome room. 

Besides the hall there was a parlor, which, according to the 
fashion of the times, contained a bed for the use of honored 
guests. There was a cupboard in this room, a great table, a 
high chair, six high stools, a low chair and two low stools, a 



Davenport and Eaton. 6i 

pair of great brass andirons, a firepan and tongs of brass, and 
curtain hangings for the windows. 

The Governor's study, or ''counting room" as it is called in 
the inventory contained a cupboard with a chest of drawers, a 
great table, and two iron-bound chests. Probably his books, 
which were valued at forty-eight pounds, were kept here. He 
had also a globe and a map. In this room he transacted busi- 
ness, received and questioned offenders, and here he came for 
study and prayer. 

In those days every family brewed its own beer, and the 
brew house is mentioned as being an appurtenance of the 
house, but we do not know whether it was a separate building, 
or joined to the house. No other rooms for family purposes are 
mentioned in the inventory, but we gather from the records 
that there was a spinning room as well under the roof of Gov- 
ernor Eaton. Spinning and weaving were constantly going on 
in every household, and a place was usually set apart for these 
operations. Sometimes a small separate room was built to 
hold the loom and the spinning wheels, but there are indications 
that the spinning and weaving of the Eaton household were 
done under the Governor's own roof, and in a room set apart 
for the purpose. 

Besides the bedrooms occupied by the family there were two 
handsome guest chambers called the Green Room and the 
Blue Room. The Green Room was the handsomer of the two. 
It contained a bedstead with canopy and hangings, and a down 
bed, "a couch with its appurtenances,^' a cupboard with draw- 
ers, a great table, a cypress chest, a tapestry carpet, a tapestry 
covering for the bed, a long window cushion, six needlework 
cushions, ''hangings about the chamber," a pair of brass and- 
irons, firepan and tongs of brass, a carpet, a chair, a little chair, 
six low stools, a looking glass, three white blankets, four pil- 
lows and a feather bolster. 



62 Early New Haven. 

The blue chamber was not so luxurious. It contained a 
bedstead with a feather bed, a cupboard and chest of drawers, 
a great table, two trunks and an iron bound safe, a blue rug, a 
carpet, and hangings about the chamber. 

Mrs. Eaton seems to have kept her store of linen in this 
room, for after appraising the furniture the inventory makes 
mention of table cloths and napkins, towels and "cupboard 
cloths," and divides them according to quality. Thus there is 
an entry, "a long table cloth, a great table cloth, a cupboard 
cloth, a towel, eighteen napkins, all of damask," and then 
another entry of similar articles of less expensive linen. Gov- 
ernor Eaton had at least two fowling pieces, three carbines with 
firelocks, four swords and a belt, three old halberds, a powder 
horn, powder and shot, etc., etc. The value of his live stock 
is given, the five acres of wheat and one acre of rye sown, and 
the value of the furniture at his outlying farms is also men- 
tioned. 

If any of these articles had been preserved in New Haven, 
the iron bound safe, for example, or the globe and map, or 
even a needlework cushion, it would be highly cherished by the 
owner, but so far as we are aware, not one of these inventoried 
articles is known to have been preserved. When Eaton resigned 
his agency for the "Fellowship of Eastland Merchants" en- 
gaged in commerce on the shores of the Baltic Sea, they pre- 
sented his wife with a silver gilt basin and ewer, as a testi- 
monial of the regard in which they held Eaton. These articles, 
as a note at the end of the inventory says, were appraised at 
forty pounds, but as they were Mrs. Eaton's private property, 
they were not entered in the list. 

A picture now hangs in the New Haven Colony Historical 
Society which is said to have hung in the Eaton mansion. It 
is not mentioned in the inventory, but this may be because it 
was, like the basin and ewer, Mrs., Eaton's private property. 



Davenport and Eaton. 63 

Mrs. Eaton was a widow with three children, David, Thomas 
and Hannah Yale, when she married Governor Eaton. The 
picture, which represents a young woman in a close cap, has a 
coat of arms in the upper right hand corner which experts have 
thought to be the Yale coat of arms. If this be true, the picture 
may be the portrait of Hannah Yale, who afterward married 
Governor Hopkins. 

Governor Eaton's silver plate, exclusive of the basin and 
ewer, was valued at one hundred and seven pounds, seven shil- 
lings sterling. His whole estate amounted to fifteen hundred 
and fifteen pounds, a shrinkage of almost exactly one half since 
he came to this country. 

Mr. Davenport's house, in the course of years, gave place 
to a more modern structure, which was built over the old cel- 
lar, and this house, in later years known as the Reynolds house, 
was not demolished until 1878-9. The first Presbyterian 
Society bought the land, and erected its place of worship upon 
it, but there may still be some remains of the old cellar beneath 
its foundations. 

Mr. Davenport's house must have been a fine and stately 
mansion, for it contained thirteen fireplaces. The inventory of 
his estate has been preserved, and we see by this that besides 
the necessities of life he had many of its luxuries. He had not 
so many carpets or cushions as Mr. Eaton, but his library was 
more valuable. Instead of having two hundred pounds worth 
of plate, he had what was valued at fifty pounds. He owned, 
also, "a clock and its appurtenances," appraised at five pounds. 
His china and earthenware were also worth five pounds. 

After Eaton's death. New Haven never seemed the same 
to Davenport. They had been friends from boyhood, had 
stood shoulder to shoulder through troublous days, and had 
been neighbors for twenty years. Their friendship had never 
been clouded with the faintest shadow of a quarrel, though 



64 Early New Haven. 

they had Hved through some troubled episodes. They reUed 
on and had helped each other in various matters of Church and 
State, and the death of Eaton, and the dissensions in the com- 
munity made Davenport anxious to leave. In 1668, Davenport 
received a call to Boston and removed there with his family, 
and there he died and was buried a year or two later. 

It is not known that anything belonging to him is owned in 
New Haven. A silver tankard which he owned is in the posses- 
sion of one of his descendants, Mr. John Davenport, of Stam- 
ford. His library was valued at over one thousand pounds, 
and was divided among his heirs. Part of it was given or sold 
to the Rev. Increase Mather, and is now the property of the 
American Antiquarian Society at Worcester. 

One of the communion cups belonging to the Center Church 
is said to have belonged to John Davenport, and to have been 
brought over in the Hector, but this is not certain. We know, 
however, that his granddaughter bequeathed her silver cup to 
the Center Church for a communion cup, and this cup may 
very likely have been part of the Davenport family plate. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE regicides: WILLIAM GOFFE AND EDWARD WHALLEY. 

When Charles I, King of England, was tried for high 
treason, seventy- four judges sat on the bench. Of these, sixty- 
seven were present at the last session of the court, and were 
unanimous in passing sentence upon the king, and fifty-nine 
signed the warrant for his execution. After the Restoration, 
when Charles II, the son of Charles I, became King, one of his 
first acts was to bring to trial the judges who had condemned 
his father to death. Of the fifty-nine who had signed the 
death warrant, twenty-six had died, and of the remaining 
thirty-three., sixteen fled, one to Holland, one to Switzerland, 
and many of the others to different parts of the continent, 
where they lived out their days in obscurity and retirement. 
The others were arrested and tried. Nine of these were exe- 
cuted, and five were degraded. It was then announced that of 
the judges who had fled, all were to be pardoned but seven, 
and among the seven were the names of Edward Whalley and 
William Goffe. 

These two judges had left London before the King was 
proclaimed, and reached Boston July 27, 1660, where they 
did not try to conceal their identity, but presented themselves 
to Governor Endicott, and many of the leading citizens of the 
town called upon them. They took up their residence in Cam- 
bridge, and lived as any two gentlemen of their rank might 
live, in a quiet, dignified manner. They took the precaution 
of using assumed names, but they went to church and other 
religious meetings freely, until they were recognized on the 
street by the captain of an English ship, William Breedon by 
name. 
5 



66 Early New Haven. 

Breedon was on the point of sailing for England, and on | 
his arrival he gave information against Whalley and Goffe. ' 

When it became known in Boston that Whalley and Goffe 
were not included in the general amnesty which had been de- i 
clared by Parliament, a public meeting was held, at which there | 
was much difference of opinion. Public opinion was generally ] 
with the exiles, and manv of the citizens of Boston wished to I 
manifest their sympathy openly, but others were afraid of the j 
king's displeasure, and thought it best they should leave the 
colony, and as Whalley and Goffe did not wish to bring trouble \ 
to their kind friends in Boston, they left that neighborhood ! 
and came to New Haven, stopping by the way at Hartford, 
where they were kindly received by Governor Winthrop, and 
at Guilford by Governor Leete. The wife of the Rev. Mr. 
Hooke, Mr. Davenport's colleague, was Whalley's sister, and ,; 
they knew they should be among friends in the New Haven . 
colony. 

The result of Breedon's communication to the English 
authorities was a warrant for the arrest of Whalley and Goffe,^ 
but by the time this had reached Boston, the Judges had left. ; 
The news, however, was not long in reaching them, and as 
soon as they knew of the warrant they left New Haven, went ' 
to Mil ford, where they showed themselves openly and gave it : 
to be understood that they were on their way to New York, \ 
but at night they returned to New Haven, and were concealed j 
in the cellar of Mr. Davenport's house for more than a month. i 

The information which Captain Breedon carried to England \ 
led to a direct order from the King to the Governor of Boston, • 
to have Whalley and Goffe arrested wherever they might be. 
The Governor did not dare to show any unwillingness in the 
matter, and he commissioned two young English merchants, \ 
Thomas Kelloud and Thomas Kirk, to go through the colonies i 
in search of them. But word was privately sent to New 



The Regicides: Goffe and Whalley. 67 

Haven, and the fugitives left Mr. Davenport's house, and were 
taken across the street to the Eaton mansion. Governor Eaton 
was no longer living, but his daughter and her husband, Mr. 
Jones occupied the house. Here they found sanctuary until 
the nth of May. 

On this day, which was Saturday, Kellond and Kirk ar- 
rived at Guilford and applied to Govenor Leete for horses and 
a search warrant. Mr. Leete detained them on various pre- 
texts imtil the sun was down, and then told them that the laws 
of the colon}^ forbade travelling on the Sabbath, and that the 
Sabbath began at sundown. He refused to furnish horses 
until Monday morning, and would not issue any warrant, but 
sent an Indian to New Haven to acquaint Mr. Davenport, pri- 
vately, with the facts of the case. 

The friends of the two Judges considered it inexpedient to 
try to shelter them in New Haven any longer, and they were 
taken by Mr. Jones, Mr. Sperry and Mr. Burill to a mill near 
West Rock, where they remained for two nights. The night of 
the 13th of May they stayed at Mr. Sperry's. They were above 
all things anxious that neither Mr. Davenport nor Mr. Jones 
should suffer for having befriended them, and they determined 
to show themselves in public that they might clear their friends 
from suspicion, so on Monday, they walked out by Neck 
Bridge, on the road by which Kellond and Kirk would come 
into town, and there they were seen, as they wished to be, and 
the alarm was given. The sheriff hurried out to arrest them 
but they defended themselves with their sticks, and he hastened 
back to town for further aid. On returning with his men he 
found no trace of the fugitives. It is said they crawled under 
the bridge as the tide was out, and lay there while the hoofs of 
the horses which Kellond and Kirk rode, thundered over their 
heads on the flooring of the bridge. 

Although Kellond and Kirk had been refused a search war- 



68 Early New Haven. 

rant by Governor Leete they examined some houses, especially 
those of Mr. Davenport, Mr. Jones and Mr. Allerton. It is 
said they treated Mr. Davenport with "asperity and repre- 
hension." While they were being detained at Guilford a man 
told them that Whalley and Goffe were being sheltered by 
Davenport and Jones. They used bribes freely, and were told 
in New Haven that the Judges were sheltered in the house of 
Mr. Isaac Allerton. 

This house was, as has been said in a previous chapter, one 
of the four finest in the colony, its joiner work being especially 
elaborate. In one room was a high wainscoting or panelling 
of oak running around all four sides, and in the recesses made 
by the projecting chimney were built closets. The doors of 
the closets were panelled like the rest of the wainscot, and 
against them, on the outside of the closet doors, small kitchen 
utensils, like skimmers, strainers, porringers and spoons were 
hung, thus effectually concealing the latches and hinges of the 
doors, if there were any. It is said that in one of these closets 
Whalley and Goffe were hidden. When Kellond and Kirk 
came to search the house, Mr. Allerton's daughter told the 
Judges to leave the house by the rear, while the pursuers were 
admitted at the front door. They asked her if Whalley and 
Goffe had been there, and she said they had been, but had gone 
away again. The Judges were then readmitted by some mem- 
ber of the family and concealed in the closet, while the pur- 
suers searched the house and the very room without noticing 
the door in the wainscoting. 

Kellond and Kirk were much irritated by the refusal of the 
Governor to give them a warrant. The Court met, and refused 
to aid the pursuers until they had called a meeting of all the 
voters. The pursuers asked Governor Leete if he would honor 
and obey the King in this affair, and Leete replied "We honor 
his Majesty, but we have tender consciences." 



The Regicides: Goffe and Whalley. 69 

Then Kellond and Kirk told him that they knew who the 
men were who had concealed and comforted traitors, and that 
they had done themselves injur>^, and would possibly ruin them- 
selves and the whole colony of New Haven. Finding Leete 
still determined not to betray the fugitives they went to New 
York, and from there returned to Boston by sea. 

Mr. Sperry's house was near the base of West Rock, and 
he knew of the existence of a cave upon it, near its summit. 
He hid the Judges at a place in the woods called Hatchets 
Harbor for two nights, until the cave had been made ready for 
their occupancy, and at the cave they remained from the 15th 
of May until the nth of June, except in very tempestuous 
weather when they went to Sperry's house. They were pro- 
vided with food by Sperry, who used to carry a day's supply to 
a certain stump in the woods, near the cave, from which it was 
taken by the Judges. 

There is a tradition that Kellond and Kirk did not give up 
the search without a final effort — that they returned to New 
Haven and went out to Sperry's house, where the fugitives 
actually were at the time, but they were seen while they were 
yet a great way off, and Whalley and Goffe got safely away. 

The contour of the cave to-day is not what it was in 1661. 
It was struck by lightning more than fifty years ago, and the 
position of the rocks was altered. Then there was quite a 
good sized chamber between and under the rocks, and here 
Whalley and Goffe had their beds. The fugitives left the 
cave because a panther or catamount put his head through the 
opening of the cave one night, and his glaring eyeballs "greatly 
affrighted" them. It is said they went to Hatchet Harbor 
again, which, becoming their settled residence, was called the 
Lodge. 

They heard that Mr. Davenport was in danger of being 
called to account for concealing and comforting traitors, and 



70 Early New Haven. 

they made up their minds to surrender themselves rather than 
have the country or any person suffer through them. It is 
beHeved that they went to Guilford to consult with Governor 
Leete, and that they remained at Guilford for several days, 
part of the time being hidden in the cellar of a store house be- 
longing to Governor Leete, and being fed from his table, and 
part of the time staying at the house of Mr. Brayton Rossiter. 
It is an old Guilford tradition thatWhalley and Goffe were there 
while Governor Leete conferred with those most interested. It 
seems to have been felt that it was not necessary for the Judges 
to give themselves up at this time, and they returned to New 
Haven, being seen in public from June 20 to June 24. Then 
they returned to their cave on West Rock, where they remained 
until the 19th of August, when, the search for them being prac- 
tically given over, they went to Mil ford, where they were hid- 
den in the house of a Mr. Tompkins. Here they remained for 
two years, without even venturing as far as the orchard. 

The house in which they lay concealed was of two stories. 
The lower one was built of stone, and was used as a store 
room. The room over it was of wood, and was used by the 
young women of the family as a spinning room. A story was 
told that while the Judges were in hiding in this house, there 
came over from England a cavalier ballad, satirizing Charles* 
Judges, Goffe and Whalley among the rest. One of the spin- 
ning women used to sing it from time to time, and it caused so 
much amusement to the listeners that they frequently used to 
ask Mr. Tompkins to request the spinner to sing it. 

After two years of such close confinement, Whalley and 
Goffe began to feel more assured that the search for them had 
been given up, and they began to appear occasionally at re- 
ligious gatherings, but they were men of so great distinction 
in speech and carriage that they attracted much attention and 
provoked much comment. It was but too easy to surmise who 



The Regicides: Goffe and Whalley. 71 

they were, and their friends, who heard from time to time the 
speculations concerning the identity of these two gentlemen 
with the exiles Whalley and Gofife, began to feel that even quiet 
Milford was no longer a safe shelter for them. In 1664 royal 
commissioners arrived at Boston, instructed by the King to 
renew the search for the Judges, and it became necessary for 
the exiles to leave Milford. 

They returned to the cave on West Rock, but had been 
there only a few days before some Indians, in their hunting 
discovered their bed of leaves, and again they were driven out. 
It was necessary to seek some entirely new asylum, and it was 
desirable to have it in some remote settlement. Their friends ar- 
ranged that they should go to the newly settled town of Had- 
ley, in Massachusetts, and on the 13th of October they started, 
"after a residence and pilgrimage of three years and seven 
months at New Haven and Milford." They travelled only by 
night, and reached Hadley in safety, where they were welcomed 
by the Rev. Mr. Russell, the minister of the Church there, and 
with him they lived for fourteen or sixteen years. Here, too, 
their place of retreat was in the cellar, to which a trap door in 
the kitchen led, though they doubtless spent much of their time 
in the upper rooms of the house. A number of wealthy gen- 
tlemen in different parts of New England contributed to their 
maintenance, and the rest of their lives was passed without fur- 
ther alarms. Search was instituted for them from time to time, 
but it seems never to have been suspected that they were in 
Hadley. 

They still considered, and it undoubtedly was true, that 
the price of their safety was absolute seclusion, and they did 
not leave their retreat even for public worship. They enjoyed 
the use of Mr. Russell's library and Gofife kept a voluminous 
diary, from which most of this account has been taken. 

With the 13th of October, 1664, their story, so far as New 



72 Early New Haven. 

Haven is concerned, is at an end, but there are a few traditions 
in Hadley concerning them which are of interest. One of these 
has been used most beautifully by Hawthorne in his story of 
'The Gray Champion." At the time of King Philip's War 
there was an almost universal uprising of Indian tribes in New 
England, and some of these tribes attacked Hadley. It was 
on a fast day, and the inhabitants were at Church, the men 
being armed, as was their custom at that time. The people 
were taken completely by surprise and were in great confusion, 
when suddenly among them was seen a stranger, dressed dif- 
ferently from the inhabitants. He at once took the command 
and arranged and ordered them in the best military manner, 
and under his direction the inhabitants repelled and routed the 
Indians and the town was saved. Then the stranger disap- 
peared, and was seen no more. The townspeople were fully 
convinced that it was an angel sent from God to deliver them, 
and so they believed for fifteen or twenty years, until it was 
made known that at the time of the invasion the two Judges had 
been in hiding in the town, and that the angel had been, in all 
probability, Goffe, who had been one of Cromwell's Major Gen- 
erals, and understood the art of military tactics, which he used 
to so great advantage. 

In 1676 or 1678, Whalley died, and soon after Gofife disap- 
peared. His diary and letters were left with Mr. Russell, and 
after Mr. Russell's death they were scattered and lost, but not 
until careful notes had been made of his diary by several persons 
interested. It was never known where Goffe went, or when he 
died. He was said to have "gone toward the West — toward 
Virginia," but he was seen in Hartford in 1679, ^^id this is his 
last recorded appearance. 

Whalley was undoubtedly buried at Hadley, but there are 
varying traditions as to the locality of his grave. One is, that 
he was buried in the cellar of the Russell house, and another 



The Regicides: Goffe and Whalley. 73 

that his grave was just at the dividing line between the premises 
of Mr. Tilton and Mr. Marsh, that each might be able to say 
with truth, that Whalley was not buried on his land. It would 
hardly be necessary to mention his place of burial if the old 
stones still remaining in the rear of the Center Church had not 
at one time been supposed to mark his grave. But this matter 
will be considered in another chapter. 

Note — It has been said that the Reynolds house was built over 
the cellar of Mr. Davenport's house, and before it was taken down, 
about 1878, a great many New Haven people, now living, went into 
the cellar to see the small room in which the Regicides were concealed. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE regicides: JOHN DIXWELL. 

But we hear of the three Judges, and Whalley and Goffe 
are but two. These men kept together in all their wanderings, 
and the story of one is the story of both. But Dixwell's ex- 
perience was a different and much happier one. He, too, 
was one of the condemned Judges, and he left England in 1660, 
but we do not know when he came to this country. It is 
thought that he was in correspondence with Whalley and Goffe, 
or with some of their friends, for he went to see them in Had- 
ley four months after their arrival there. One writer says he 
lived there for several years, but his granddaughter says he 
was in Hadley but six weeks. He changed his name, retaining 
only the initials, and was known henceforth as James Davids. 

He came to New Haven some time before 1672, and 
boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Ling, who lived on the 
southeast corner of College and Grove streets, where Byers 
Hall now stands. After Mr. Ling's death he married the 
widow, who left him her property, and after her death he mar- 
ried again, and had several children. He never was in busi- 
ness, but he lived in comfort and enjoyed the respect of his 
friends. The Reverend Mr. Pierpont was at this time the 
minister of the Church, and lived on Elm street about where 
Temple street is now laid out, and early in his ministry, Mr. 
Davids was received into the Church. It gives one some idea of 
the size of the home lots of the early settlers when we read that 
Mr. Ling's, afterward Mr. Davids' lot, on the southeast cor- 
ner of College and Grove streets, "cornered" on the land of 
Mr. Pierpont, on Elm street. Mr. Davids and Mr. Pierpont 
were instantly attracted to each other, and used to stand at the 
junction of their fences and talk together so often that a path 



The Regicides: John Dixwell. 75 

had been worn by their feet to the meeting place at the fence. 
It is thought that Mr. Davids told Mr. Pierpont who he was, 
for when Mrs. Pierpont expressed her surprise that her hus- 
band should have so much conversation with this quiet gentle- 
man, he told her that if she knew the worth and value of that 
man, she would not wonder that he enjoyed talking with him. 
Mr. Davids used often to spend his evenings at Mr. Pierpont's, 
and in his will, as a token of his friendship, he left him his 
copy of Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World." 

Dixwell's residence in this country seems never to have 
been suspected, though it is believed that at least one or two 
others besides Mr. Pierpont, knew who Davids was. It is 
thought that Governor William Jones, whose father, one of the 
Judges of the King, suffered death, was in the secret. He had 
been one of those who gave shelter to Whalley and Goffe, and 
probably when Dixwell was in Hadley, they told him what a 
loyal friend Mr. Jones had been. 

There is a tradition that when Sir Edmund Andros was in 
New England he spent one Sunday in New Haven, and went to 
church in the morning. There he saw a gentleman, so much 
more dignified in his bearing than the other residents, that he 
noticed him especially, and inquired who he was. He was told 
it was Mr. Davids, a merchant of London. Andros replied 
that he knew he was not a merchant, and asked some searching 
questions, which were parried as well as possible. Mr. Davids 
was not at church in the afternoon, and it is thought he had 
been notified of Andros' curiosity and had considered it prudent 
to remain at home. 

Davids died in 1689, and his will, headed ''The last will and 
testament of James Davids, alias John Dixwell," set at rest aU 
suspicion. There were other papers in the Probate Office, 
signed, some years before his death "John Dixwell, alias James 
Davids." 



76 Early New Haven. 

Dixwell left directions that no monument be erected at his 
grave, giving any account of his person, name or character, 
lest his enemies should dishonor his ashes. He requested that 
a plain stone should be set up at his grave, inscribed with his 
initials and the age and time of his death. This was done, and 
the inscription, now almost obliterated reads : 

J. D. Esq. 

Deceased March the i8th 

In the 82(1 year of his Age 

1688-9 

In 1847 a descendant of John Dixwell erected a marble 
monument to the memory of his ancestor, close by the stone 
which originally marked the grave. The grade was raised, 
and both monument and the old stone are enclosed by a stone 
coping and an iron fence in the rear of the Center Church. 
The same descendant, Mr. Epes Sargent Dixwell of Boston, 
presented the silver snufif box which had belonged to his an- 
cestor, to the New Haven Colony Historical Society, where it 
may still be seen. 

In 1794 the Rev. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, 
wrote a book called, "A History of Three of the Judges of 
Charles I, Major-General Whalley, Major-General Goffe and 
Colonel Dixwell." In this book he gathered up both history 
and tradition. He had actually seen, and held in his hands, one 
of the volumes of Gofife's diary, and had made extracts from 
it. This diary has been used at length in Governor Hutchin- 
son's History of Massachusetts, and although President Stiles' 
accuracy is so often decried, it is impossible to deny that he 
had access to the same original documents which Hutchin- 
son used. His narrative of the wanderings of Whalley, Goffe 
and Dixwell is written with great care, and with evident anxi- 
ety to be exact, and we must admit that he was in a position to 



The Regicides: John Dixwell. 77 

know more concerning the matter than any later writers. There 
was but one source of trustworthy information, the diary of 
Goffe, which was burned in the fire which consumed Governor 
Hutchinson's house in Boston. 

President Stiles is, however, responsible for the uncertainty 
which will always be felt concerning the meaning of the inscrip- 
tions on the old stones within the railing at the rear of the 
Center Church. One is marked E. W. 1678, and the other, a 
much smaller one is marked M. G. 80. Concerning these, con« 
troversy has raged for years, and the question will probably 
never be decided. The fairest minded of our New Haven 
antiquarians have always been obliged to say: "Not proven" 
to either argument. 

These stones were but two of the many which were crowded 
together in the old burying ground, It was supposed, by the 
few who were interested in such matters, that one marked the 
grave of Edward Wigglesworth, whose son's fragment of auto- 
biography has given us some glimpses of the lives of the first 
settlers, and that the other marked the grave of Matthew Gil- 
bert, one of the first Deacons of the Church. But President 
Stiles in his book, propounded the theory that as Whalley died 
and was buried in Hadley, in 1678, Goffe might have returned 
there and there died and been buried in 1680, as we have no 
trace of him after 1679, that Whalley might have been buried in 
the cellar of Mr. Russell's house, or Mr. Tilton's, as some will 
have it, and that Gofife might have been buried on the dividing 
line between Mr. Tilton's and Mr. Marsh's land, — that Dixwell 
might liave wished them to lie near him in the New Haven 
burying ground so that at the general resurrection they might 
all rise together, and that he might have had their bodies dis- 
interred, brought to New Haven and buried here, and their 
graves marked by inconspicuous stones, and further disguised 
by such devices as using an M. for a W. on one stone, and 



78 Early New Haven. 

marking the date on the other so that it can be read 1658 or 
1678. This is a very ingenious theory, and seems to have been 
beUeved impHcitly for a time. When the other stones were 
removed in 1821, these and John Dixwell's were left, as being 
of equal interest and authenticity. 

Of late years a great deal of scepticism is freely expressed 
on this subject. President Stiles' theory is considered alto- 
gether too ingenious. On the other hand there are reasons for 
doubting whether the stones marked the graves of Wiggles- 
worth and Gilbert. Wigglesworth did not die in 1678, but in 
1654. Matthew Gilbert did die in 1680, but he was a man of 
so much standing in the community that it hardly seems as if 
so small and insignificant a stone would have marked his grave. 
Moreover, the Gilberts were buried near the southwest corner 
of the meeting house, and it is said the stone of Matthew Gil- 
bert was removed at the time of the erection of the third meet- 
ing house. 

The lists of the town dead have been carefully examined, 
and only add to the perplexities. Neither in 1658 or in 1678 
did anyone die whose initials were E. W. On the other hand 
the name of Matthew Gilbert, who is known to have died in 
1680, is not recorded, which goes to prove that there might 
have been other omissions. Thus the whole matter is wrapped 
in mystery, which probably will never be explained. 

The stone marked M. G. was at the intersection of two of 
the paths west of the Dixwell monument, but in 1898 it was re- 
moved to within the railing enclosing the E. W. stones, as it 
was in danger of being chipped away by curiosity seekers. 
After every Commencement a bit of it was missing, and while 
its removal was deplored, it was deemed an act of necessary 
precaution. 

Still another of the Regicides is in a way connected with 
the history of New Haven. One of those who took stock in 



The Regicides: John Dixwell. 79 

the company was Owen Rowe, a citizen of London. He was 
prevented from coming, but sent his son, a youth, with the 
company. This son was left in Massachusetts to study with a 
tutor, and there is extant a letter from him to Governor Win- 
throp, in which he complains bitterly of homesickness, and asks 
if there is any way he can get back to his father. Owen Rowe 
became one of the colonels in the Parliamentary army, and was 
one of King Charles' Judges. His name is on the list of those 
condemned and in the tower, and there he died on Christmas 
Eve, 1662. 

The home lot of Owen Rowe was on Church street, includ- 
ing the frontage of what is now Court street. It cornered on 
Mr. Davenport's lot on Elm street, and just north of it was 
the eight foot strip called "Mr. Davenport's walk." 

It is not known what became of Nathaniel Rowe, the home- 
sick son of Owen Rowe, but it is believed that he married and 
lived here for a time, and that the Rowes of New Haven are 
his descendants. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. 

Soon after the settlement at Jamestown, King James I, of 
England, granted to the Plymouth Company the right to dis- 
pose of all the land north of Virginia. The Plymouth Com- 
pany, in turn granted a large tract, including what is now Con- 
necticut, to the Earl of Warwick, and he ceded this territory to 
Lord Say and Seal, and a party of Puritan gentlemen who 
wished to establish a Puritan colony. One of these gentlemen 
was George Fenwick, who came to this country to represent the 
others. He had full power given him to sell any part of the 
land, and to do whatever he thought was for the best interests 
of the company. 

In those days unclaimed land was so plentiful, and could be 
bought so cheaply, that its boundaries were never well defined. 
After Hartford was settled, its proprietors bought land from 
Fenwick, which included all the land from the Narragansett 
River in Rhode Island to the Fort at Saybrook. No mention 
was made of the land occupied by the Qunnipiac Indians. 
The New Haven colonists, having bought of the Indians, 
deemed their title secure, but nevertheless they wished to have 
a charter to make assurance doubly sure, and William Gregson 
sailed for England in 1646, to secure one from Parliament. 
Mention has already been made of the "Great Shippe" into 
which New Haven put so much of her substance, and in which 
so many New Haven people sailed, who were never again 
heard of. Gregson never reached England, and the charter 
was never procured. 

The colonists of New Haven had by this time grown very 
poor, and in addition to the uncertainty affecting their future, 
they were troubled with internal dissensions, much of which 



The Union with Connecticut. 8i 

came from the Fundamental Agreement which the planters 
signed at the meeting in Robert Newman's barn. 

By the terms of this Fundamental Agreement, only those 
taking stock in the company were to be called planters, and 
only such planters as were Church members were to be allowed 
the privilege of voting. These were the freemen of the com- 
munity, or the '"free planters" as they were called. As years 
went on there was a great deal of grumbling regarding this 
restriction of the right of suffrage, and the ill feeling of the 
complainers became manifest, but the colonists lived in peace 
with their neighbors, and had no thought of trouble. 

They were on especially good terms with their Jndian 
friends. In 1653 complaint was made that the swine belonging 
to the town did the Indians much damage by eating up their 
corn. They desired to take up more ground, and asked the 
English to help them fence it. The sagamore also asked for a 
coat, saying he was old and poor and could not work. The 
town voted that fit men should be employed to fence the new 
ground, and that the sagamore should have a coat, both to be 
paid for from the town treasury. 

In 1658 Governor Eaton died, a few months after the 
trouble with Norton, the Quaker. He had been annually elected 
Governor for eighteen years. His death was a great blow to Mr. 
Davenport, for the two men had been friends from boyhood, 
and had lived opposite each other from the first settlement of the 
town. There had never been any cessation of their friendly 
intercourse, as far as we know, though one would think the 
excommunication of Mrs. Eaton from the Church might natur- 
ally have caused a slight coolness between them. They had 
always conferred together in all matters of Church and State, 
and Mr. Davenport must have felt bereaved, not only of a 
friend, but of a counselor and confidant. 

It was supposed that Mr. Goodyear, the Deputy Governor, 

6 



82 Early New Haven. 

would be chosen to fill Mr. Eaton's office, but Mr. Goodyear 
was in London at this time, and the planters thought it would 
be wise to choose a man at hand, and accordingly elected Mr. 
Francis Newman. Mr. Newman had bought Mr. Samuel 
Eaton's house, after Mr. Eaton left the colony. Mr. William 
Leete was elected Deputy Governor. 

In 1660, New Haven, wishing "to set out the bounds with 
lasting marks" between them and the Connecticut Colony, ap- 
pointed Mr, Yale, Mr. Andrews, John Cooper and others, to do 
it with the help of Montowese, the Indian Sachem. The Con- 
necticut colony took offense at this and claimed that all the land 
belonged to her. She was on the point of obtaining a royal 
charter, and while she did not wish to deprive New Haven 
colony of her territory, she wished New Haven to come under 
her jurisdiction. 

There were two parties in Hartford in regard to this mat- 
ter. One held that New Haven should be compelled to come 
under the charter. The other thought that she ought to be 
left to do as she chose. But they all felt that it was their land, 
which they had paid for, on which New Haven was settled. 

There were two parties in New Haven, also, concerning 
the union of the colonies, John Davenport was seriously op- 
posed to it. The leaders of the colony had been in many ways 
helped and befriended by Oliver Cromwell, and Mr. Hooke, 
Mr, Davenport's colleague, was a cousin of the Lord Pro- 
tector. For this reason, when in 1660 word was brought to this 
country that Charles II was restored to the throne of England, 
the New Haven people were very reluctant in acknowledging 
him as their king. Then they had given help and shelter to 
Goffe and Whalley, and no one had done more than Mr. Daven- 
port. It was perfectly well known in England that Mr. Dav- 
enport had aided the Regicides, although nothing could be 
proved against him, and now Mr. Davenport was afraid the 



The Union with Connecticut. 83 

time of punishment had come. He was fearful lest what he 
had done woidd injure the colony in the eyes of the King. He 
wrote an apology to Sir Thomas Temple, beseeching him to 
avert from the colony the royal displeasure. He said he was 
willing to humiliate himself in any way if he could only main- 
tain the independence of the colony. 

In Hartford there was no fundamental agreement, and no 
such restriction of the right of suffrage. Davenport knew 
that if New Haven united with the Connecticut colony the 
privilege of voting would be made more general, and this, he 
felt sure, would injure a colony ''whose design was religion." 
He did not care so much whether they had trial by jury or not. 
Eaton wished to be both judge and jury, but Eaton was dead, 
and he was ready to have new arrangements made about trying 
offenders against the law. 

Mr. Davenport knew that Governor Winthrop of the Con- 
necticut colony, was soon to set sail for England to obtain a 
charter, and he wrote to Winthrop, insisting that nothing 
should be done to interfere with the independence of the New 
Haven colony. He thought Winthrop promised to obey his 
wishes. 

Governor Leete, too, was corresponding with Winthrop. 
He had succeeded Governor Newman in his office, and he repre- 
sented the younger men of the community, who thought it 
would be an excellent plan to unite with the Connecticut colony, 
not only to reap the advantage of the union which is strength, 
but also do away with the objectionable Fundamental Agree- 
ment. The sons of the original planters had by this time 
grown to man's estate, and they found the restriction of the 
right of suffrage very galling. Governor Leete therefore wrote 
to Winthrop, expressing himself in favor of uniting the two 
colonies under one charter. 

When Davenport heard of this he was very indignant. He 



84 Early New Haven. 

wrote to Winthrop "as for what Mr. Leete wrote to yourself 
it was his private doing, without the consent or knowledge of 
any of us in this colony. It was not done by him according to I 
his public trust as Governor, but contrary to it." ' 

But the tide of public opinion was too strong for Davenport, 
not only in New Haven, but in several outlying plantations, ; 
as they were called, which were part of the colony of New ! 
Haven. These were Branford, Guilford, Milford, Southold on ' 
Long Island, Stamford and Greenwich. While the matter j 
was under discussion some disaffected persons in Southold, | 
then in Guilford, Stamford and Greenwich, asked permission of j 
Connecticut to come under its jurisdiction, and Connecticut al- 1 
lowed them to do so. They kept their residences in the planta- i 
tion, but it made a divided authority and led to a great deal of i 
bad feeling. \ 

Connecticut received her charter, which included the land! 

j 

of the New Haven colony, April 23, 1662. i 

There was nothing now for New Haven to do but to sur- i 
render, with the best grace she might. The controversy came ; 
to an end by the arrival of two English ships of war, bearing 1 
royal corrimissioners, instructed to require the colonists to as- 
sist in reducing, under English authority all the land occupied 
by the Dutch, the King claiming it as of right belonging to 
England, and he having bestowed it on his brother, the Dukei 
of York. This land was to be bounded on the East by the! 
Connecticut river. The Winthrop charter gave Connecticut! 
one hundred and twenty miles westward from the Narragan-. 
sett river. By one grant therefore. New Haven was in the| 
domain of the Duke of York, by the charter it was in Connecti- 1 
cut. There was no place for it as an independent colony. ' 
They had no title from the English crown, and their territory! 
was claimed by two different parties. Of two evils she chose! 
the least and surrendered her independence, December 13,: 
1664. ; 



The Union with Connecticut. 85 

This was the last and worst blow to Davenport. He felt, 
and wrote to a friend that ''Christ's interest in New Haven 
was miserably lost." The first Church in Boston called him 
to be their minister, and although the people of New Haven 
were grieved to have him depart, he left the colony in May, 
1668. He lived but two years after this and is buried in 
Boston.* 



*"Call back for a moment from the shadowy past that disheartened old man. 
Most of his early associates are gone. Eaton is in his grave. His fellow laborer, 
Hooke, at rest in a London graveyard; Goodyear's body buried in England, no one 
knows where; the bones of some of the best and bravest of the first colonists lying in 
the ocean's depths among the wreckage of that phantom ship whose fate time has 
failed to reveal; and what is left to crown the end of that heroic life but the sorrowful 
lament that all is lost save truth. His work in New Haven was done, and he had 
done with New Haven. As he prepares to turn his back upon the colony for which 
he had adventured so much, what a record his life must have seemed to him. His 
boyish remembrances of the powder plot, his school days at Coventry , his university 
life with its more than earnest contentions, his early clerical days, his persecution for 
non conformity, his fugitive life in Holland, the elation of the days of the Common- 
wealth buried in the grave of Cromwell, his ideal American life at an end with a pro- 
fligate King on the throne — what a record at the end of seventy years to look back 
upon!" — Commemorative address at the opening of the Building of the New Haven 
Historical Society — the English Memorial — by Horace Day, Esq. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

AFTER THE UNION. 

It really made little difference to the people in the New 
Haven Colony that they were no longer independent. Most of 
them thought that uniting with Connecticut was a prudent pro- 
ceeding. Mr. Davenport's departure, too, allayed a good deal 
of ill feeling. The disaffection in the colony was largely on 
account of the Fundamental Agreement, and when that was 
given up, and a vote was cast to recognize all baptized per- 
sons of good moral character as nominally Church members, 
though not admitted to full communion, the new law gave gen- 
eral satisfaction. This was called The Half Way Covenant. 
The militia was no longer held responsible to the town meeting, 
and a general feeling of some degree of liberty was in the air. 

Mr. Davenport, although in Boston, still felt a deep interest in 
and responsibility for the Church in New Haven, and he com- 
batted the Half Way Covenant with much vigor, but without 
avail. The Rev. Nicholas Street, his colleague remained as 
pastor until his death in 1674. He was buried in that part of 
the burying ground which is still preserved under the Church, 
and his tombstone may there be seen. For ten years there was 
no pastor, and then the Rev. James Pierpont was called. Mr. 
Davenport had built his own house on his own land, and it was 
necessary to build a parsonage for Mr. Pierpont. A Mrs. El- 
dred was one of the original proprietors, and had had her home 
lot assigned her on Elm street taking in what is now Temple 
street. She did not come to this country and her lot had never 
been built upon. The Church took it, instead of the lot which 
had at first been set off to them, and every one was called upon 
for some free will oft'ering toward the building of the house. 
One young man, having nothing else to offer, brought in from 



After the Union. 87 

the country two young elm saplings and planted them in front 
of the house. They are both gone now, but on one of the early 
maps their position is shown. One stood almost in the middle 
of the street, in front of the Public Library, the other was a 
few rods distant. 

This lot of land given by the congregation to Mr. Pierpont 
has had a curious history or lack of history. It descended to 
Mr. Pierpont's son, to his grandson and great grandson, to his 
great grandson's daughter, Mrs. Foster, and to her daughters, 
the last surviving one having recently passed away. Temple 
street was opened through the land and part of it has been sold 
for house lots, but a portion of the original frontage still re- 
mained in the family until the death of Miss Foster, when it 
was sold. The deed for this remnant of the original home 
lot was then placed on record for the first time. No other 
property in New Haven has for so long a time remained in the 
possession of any one family. 

When Mr. Pierpont came to New Haven a tax was laid 
for his support, consisting of two pence halfpenny in the 
pound, about five cents on every five dollars of property owned. 
Besides his house and lot, a five hundred pound right in com- 
monage was given him. In other words, he was allowed as 
much land as if he had invested five hundred pounds in the col- 
ony. Before Mr. Pierpont came here the town, instead of the 
Church members, became responsible for the support of the 
ministry, and the Half Way Covenant was at length formally 
adopted by the Church. Deputies were chosen to the general 
assembly, and two of these, John Cooper and another, were not 
Church members. Under the Fundamental Agreement it 
would have been impossible to elect a non Church member to 
any office, and this recognition of their interest in and respon- 
sibility for good govenment, was very acceptable to those set- 
tlers who had not united with the church. 



88 Early New Haven. 

The colonists of New Haven, disappointed in their hopes of 
commercial success, after the loss of the "Great Shippe" had 
turned their attention to agriculture. They had been able to 
maintain themselves, and had a small surplus of crops, which 
they sent together with beaver skins to Salem and Boston. 

When the town plot of the colony had been laid out, there 
were gates at the ends of the streets intersecting the town, and 
at the four corners, but as years went on the gates decayed and 
were not renewed. In 1675 the town was thrown into great 
excitement and alarm by the outbreak of King Philip's War. 
King Philip, the son of Massasoit, the friend of the first settlers 
at Plymouth, had seen with dismay the growth of the English 
settlements, and invited the Indians of Rhode Island and Mass- 
achusetts in a last desperate effort to exterminate them. The 
Quinnipiac Indians, poor and peaceable as they were, were 
placed under supervision, the gates at the corners of the town 
and at the ends of the streets were fortified, and it was ordered 
that the whole town should be surrounded with a palisade. 
Many dwellers in outlying regions built palisades around their 
own homes. It was necessary first of all to dig a deep trench, 
and in this trench logs twelve feet in height were placed per- 
pendicularly so close together that no one could squeeze 
through. These logs were all pointed at the top, so that no 
one could climb over. A gateway was left, which could be 
easily guarded. The meeting house was so fortified, and sev- 
eral other houses in the settlement, but the work was very 
laborious, and proceeded but slowly. Not long after it was 
finished, the war, which had been barbarous in the extreme, was 
closed by the death of Philip. New England united in sending 
out an army of one thousand men for service in the field. The 
number the Connecticut colonies were to furnish was three hun- 
dred and fifteen, and all persons were ordered to bring their 
arms with them to the Sunday services. Connecticut sent three 



After the Union. 89 

hundred white men and one hundred and fifty Mohegan and 
Pequot Indians. In the depth of winter the fort of the Nar- 
ragansetts was attacked and a terrible fight took place, in which 
a large number of the Indians were killed, but the remnant of 
the foe, scattered in different directions, surprised different 
villages, where they burned the buildings and massacred the 
inhabitants. These towns were all in Massachusetts, the col- 
onies of Conecticut being mercifully spared. In 1678, it was 
voted that the logs of the palisades be sold "for the good of the 
town." 

In 1680 there was a third division of land. Like the two 
preceding divisions, the apportionment to each settler was de- 
termined by the amount on which he paid taxes, and the num- 
ber of persons in his family. "Those who had been soldiers in 
the late war received two hundred acres to be divided between 
them." 

The Charter which Governor Winthrop had obtained from 
Charles II had been a very liberal one, and had never been re- 
voked by him. But when his brother, James II succeeded him, 
he attempted to unite all New England under a royal governor, 
and Sir Edmund Andros came over in that capacity. It was 
during his visit to New Haven that his eye fell upon Dixwell, 
and he made the remark "He knew he was not a merchant." 
On that Sunday, when he attended divine worship, a psalm was 
given out, which began 

"Why dost thou, tyrant, boast abroad 
Thy wicked works to praise. 
Dost thou not know there is a God 
Whose mercies last always?" 

Andros was very angry at this, which he thought was an 
intentional insult, but he was told that the psalms were sung in 
regular order, and that nothing personal was intended. 



90 Early New Haven. 

A great many laws were made by Andros which were very 
oppressive to the colonies. One was that all business relating 
to the settlement of estates must be transacted at Boston, 
however distant from there the residence of the heirs might be, 
and that the fee for the probate of a will should be fifty shil- 
lings, however small the estate. The Connecticut colonies 
were in "great fear and despondency." When the news came 
of the English Revolution, and the reign of William and Mary, 
Andros was seized and imprisoned, and the colonists joyfully 
resumed government under their old charters. 

There was an interval of just one hundred years from the 
outbreak of King Philip's War to the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion. In this time there wxre thirty years of Indian warfare. 
The French and Indian War, Queen Anne's War, King Wil- 
liam's War, King George's War and the attack on Louisburg, 
all made many demands in money and men upon the colonies. 
It is said that in King Philip's War alone, one eleventh of the 
militia of the united colonies perished, and one eleventh of the 
homesteads were destroyed. But England united with the 
colonists against the ravages of the French and Indians, and 
cheerfully contributed to the expenses of the campaign. The 
eleven years previous to the Battle of Lexington was a time of 
great prosperity in the colony, and New Haven was as pros- 
perous as any other settlement. Her commercial activity dates 
from that time. After Canada was ceded to Great Britain in 
1763, her maritime interests became well established. For 
years she had owned only two coasters and one West Indian 
vessel, but in 1770 there were thirty vessels leaving her port for 
foreign voyages, and in the next five years there was a large 
increase of wealth. 

The map of New Haven in 1775 drawn by President Stiles, 
shows a beautifully compact town. The nine squares are well 
built up, and there are many dwellings in the outlying regions. 



After the Union. 91 

On the green is the First Church, with the burying ground in 
its rear, the Church of the White Haven Society, and the State 
House, the two latter occupying nearly the respective positions 
of the United Church and Trinity Church. Trees are planted 
all around the Green, which is intersected by two diagonal 
paths. Two buildings of Yale College stand on the site of 
Osborn Hall and next north of it. The names of the residents 
are not given, and the map was drawn on too small a scale, 
but it is most interesting as giving an idea of the growth of the 
town, and its appearance at the outbreak of the Revolutionary 
War. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BREAKING OUT OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Before the Stamp Act became a law, the leading men in the 
colonies did their best to prevent its passing, but they intended 
to accept it peacefully if their efforts were not success- 
ful. Mr. Jared Ingersoll of New Haven, was appointed stamp 
master for the Connecticut colony. He was in England at the 
time, where he had gone as one of a committee to help resist 
the passage of the Act. He was able to have some of the worst 
provisions of the act repealed, but his efforts and those of the 
committee were unavailing to prevent its passage. He arrived 
at his home in August, and much to his dismay was greeted 
with many demonstrations of hostility. He was hanged in 
effigy in New London and Norwich, and there was much excite- 
ment in many other places in the colony. Mr. Ingersoll, a 
most worthy and highly esteemed gentleman, took his unpopu- 
larity among his old friends and associates very much to heart. 
He wrote a communication which appeared in the Connecticut 
Gazette for August 30, 1765, addressed "To the good people of 
Connecticut." It began "When I undertook the office of Dis- 
tributor of Stamps for this colony, I meant a service to you," 
and, after stating his position, ends "I wish that you had 
learned more of the nature of my office before you had under- 
taken to be very angry at it." A few days later he went to 
Hartford on horseback. On the way thither he was met by a 
large number of gentlemen, who demanded his resignation as 
Stamp Officer. There was a good deal of parley, and some 
threat of personal violence. Mr. Ingersoll resigned in Sep- 
tember. The law went into effect November i, and that day 
the three bells of New Haven, as has been mentioned, tolled 
mournfully at intervals from daylight to dusk. 



The Breaking Out of the Revolution. 93 

In May, 1776, the Stamp Act was repealed, and the same 
bells rang joyfully. The joy was of short duration, for it was 
soon known that taxes were to be laid on tea, paints, paper, 
glass and lead. The colonists combatted this tax by refusal to 
use the imported articles, and everything was done to encour- 
age home manufactures of all kinds that trade with England 
might be as far as possible withdrawn. Then the tax was 
removed from all the articles except tea. The Boston Tea 
Party and the passage of the Boston Port Bill only concerned 
New Haven indirectly. She sent help and provisions to those 
in Boston who had been thrown out of work by the passage of 
the Port Bill. Very significant entries in the records of this 
time are the following: 

"Voted: — That the selectmen procure a stock of powder, as soon as 
may be, for the town's use. 

Voted: — That the selectmen build a suitable house to put the 
town's stock of powder in." 

The Battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th of April, 
1775, and the news reached New Haven on the 21st. A public 
meeting was immediately held in the Brick Church, and a very 
stormy meeting it proved to be. The colonists had been op- 
posed to taxation without representation, but to resist that was 
a very different matter from taking up arms against the King. 
There were two parties each very much in earnest, and each 
name of the committee of safety was challenged by the other 
party. The vote was especially close for Moderator, Roger 
Sherman was chosen by only one vote over the candidate of the 
opposing party. The committee met next day to discuss the 
situation. They were interrupted by the appearance before the 
tavern in which they were sitting of about fifty of the Second 
Company of Foot Guards, and their commander, Benedict Ar- 
nold, asked for the keys of the powder house. The committee 



94 Early New Haven. 

refused the request, whereupon Arnold said he would then take 
the powder by force. Colonel David Wooster, who a few days 
afterward, was appointed Major-General of the militia, went 
out from the meeting and did his best to calm Arnold's excite- 
ment. He told Arnold that the committee would undoubtedly 
obtain more news in a day or two, and then would know better 
what to do, but Arnold answered him "Nobody but Almighty 
God shall prevent my marching." He was allowed to have the 
powder, and he and his men set forth the next day, reaching 
Cambridge the 29th of April. 

New military companies were soon organized; an artillery 
company was formed; householders gathered themselves into 
two companies and the students of Yale College formed a third. 
A few days after Arnold's departure Captain Hezekiah Dicker- 
man with part of his company left for Cambridge. In June 
Major-General Wooster paraded his men on the Green before 
leaving for New York. In July, General Washington in com- 
pany with General Lee, come to New Haven and stayed at 
Beers' Tavern, on the site of the New Haven House. As he and 
his escort rode down College street the students lined up on both 
sides of the road, and with hats in their hands, bowed and 
cheered. Washington, it is said, rode a superb white horse, 
whose tail nearly touched the ground, and he bowed low from 
his saddle to the right and left as he passed through the ranks 
of the Yale students. 

The next morning the General reviewed the company of 
students on the Green, and "expressed his surprise at the ex- 
pertness with which they performed their exercises." Then 
the company and two companies of uniformed militia together 
with a great number of the inhabitants of the town, escorted 
the General as far as Neck Bridge, on their way to the Pro- 
vincial Camp near Boston. Noah Webster, a small, slender 
youth, led the company playing on a fife. Mrs. Washington, 



The Breaking Out of the Revolution. 95 

with the wife of General Gates was here in December of the 
same year, on her way to Cambridge from Virginia, and in 
April, 1776, General and Mrs. Washington were again in New 
Haven on their way to the seat of war in New York. 

The gims belonging to New Haven colony, which had been 
placed at the landing place and on the Green, were taken up, 
and placed at a breastwork and battery built at Black Rock, on 
the eastern shore of New Haven harbor. 

In November, 1775, it was voted that any persons who felt 
in conscience bound to take up arms on the King's side, or who 
felt it their duty to communicate any intelligence they might 
have to the King's officers, should be requested to depart from 
town, "as soon as may be, in a peaceable way.'^ 

When the news of the Declaration of Independence reached 
New Haven, the document was read from the pulpits of the 
Churches, but there was no demonstration of any kind. It was 
mentioned in the newspapers as part of the news of the day, 
without any comment. It was not the time for celebrations, for 
the colonies knew it was really only the beginning of hostilities, 
and that the Scripture advises that ''he who putteth on his 
armor should not boast as he who putteth it off." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BRITISH INVASION OF NEW HAVEN. 

At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, Connecticut 
raised six regiments of soldiers, and later sent two additional 
regiments to the field. Three companies were sent by New 
Haven. General Wooster and Mr. David Atwater were killed 
in battle, and two other men were wounded, but not mortally. 

The Colony of Connecticut had been very active in furnish- 
ing supplies for the army and navy, and had fitted out several 
expeditions by land and water against the enemy. Many New 
Haven men were fearful that the exposed situation of New 
Haven might cause an attack by water, and at various town 
meetings they petitioned to have cannon placed at points which 
would command the harbor. They felt it would be prudent to 
garrison some of the country roads leading into New Haven, 
but money was scarce and nothing further was done, besides 
fortifying Black Rock, now Fort Hale Park, than to erect a 
beacon pole, on Indian Hill, now called Beacon Hill, in East 
Haven. The beacon fire was to be lighted in case of attack, 
and three cannon were to be fired as a signal. 

The Fourth of July, 1779, fell on Sunday, and was kept 
quietly as the Lord's Day. In the evening a public meeting 
was held, and plans were made for celebrating the Indepen- 
dence of the country on the following day. 

The people had hardly returned to their homes after that 
meeting before the signal gun was heard, and it become known 
that a large fleet of the enemy's ships had come to anchor in 
the harbor. Nothing could be done before morning, but there 
was little sleep in New Haven that night. As soon as day 
dawned every one was on the alert. In West Haven guns were 
fired and the town drummers beat to arms. Rev. Ezra Stiles, 



The British Invasion of New Haven. 97 

who was then President of Yale College, took his spyglass into 
the tower of the College Chapel, and saw that boats filled with 
armed men, were putting off from the ships to the shore. 

As the news spread, the panic grew. The soldiers armed 
themselves and reported for duty. Their families gathered up 
such valuables as they could carry, and left their homes, going 
to Hamden, Mt. Carmel and other places where they felt they 
might be more secure. Infirm and aged people were forced to 
remain behind, and with them those who had care of them. 

The British fleet consisted of two men of war and about 
forty-six small vessels. The ships were manned by about two 
thousand marines, and three thousand soldiers. These ships 
came within half a mile of the shore, and brought her guns to 
bear upon the coast, that her men might be protected as they 
landed. About half the number landed on the West Haven 
shore, the other half at East Haven. Those who landed in 
West Haven were under the command of Brigadier-General 
Garth, and met with no opposition. They marched as far as 
the West Haven Green, where they stopped for breakfast. The 
officers breakfasted in the tavern on the site of the Post Office 
Block, and the men broke ranks and gathered on the Green. 

After breakfast they were reviewed on the Green, and then 
took up their march for New Haven, going by the Allingtown 
•road. 

It was a very hot day, and the march was a disorderly one. 
The soldiers broke into houses, and pillaged and plundered as 
they went along. Some of the people who were left in the houses 
did not bear their insults with meekness. One woman who 
lived in a house facing the green complained to Adjutant Camp- 
bell that a soldier had violently wrenched a gold ring from her 
finger. Campbell told her that if she would point the soldier 
out to him, he would see that he was punished. A few minutes 
later Campbell was shot. The place of his burial, near West 
7 ■ ■: 



98 Early New Haven. 

Bridge, is marked by a stone. His servant stole his dressing 
case and offered it for sale in New Haven, and it is now in 
the possession of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. 
Campbell also protected from the violence of the soldiers, a man, 
who in getting over a fence had broken his leg. 

There had been for a year or two previous, a regiment of 
soldiers stationed in New Haven, but at this time it had been 
withdrawn, and the only soldiers available were the town 
militia, less than two hundred in number. These men went 
out on the road to West Bridge, and reaching the spot before 
the British, took up the flooring of the Bridge, and planting 
the small cannon they had brought with them prepared to de- 
fend the pass. 

When the enemy arrived there was an encounter between 
the two forces, and Adjutant Campbell was mortally wounded. 
He was taken into a house near by and ever}^thing possible was 
done to save his life. It is said he was a young man of very 
kind nature, and of so winning manners that he was beloved not 
only by his friends, but by people whom he had never met be- 
fore. The mourning for his death was by no means confined 
to the British, and to this day there is a peculiar reverence felt 
for the spot called "Campbell's grave." 

Some of the students under command of Professor Naph- 
thali Daggett had joined the militia. Daggett had been sepa- 
rated from the main body of militia, and was nearer the enemy 
than he had supposed. They surrounded him, took him pris- 
oner and treated him with many indignities, knocking him 
down, beating him about the head and stealing his valuables. 
Finally they forced him to march at the head of their column, 
leading the way into the town. Their step was more rapid 
than he was accustomed to take, but whenever he halted or 
grew slow in his movements, they charged at him with their 
bayonets, compelling him to quicken his pace. He never re- 
covered from the shock, and died the following year. 



The British Invasion of New Haven. 99 

As the West Bridge had been destroyed, the enemy were 
forced to go two miles further north to the Derby Bridge, over 
which they marched and came into town by the way of Broad- 
way. 

A sad story is told of Mr. Elisha Tuttle, whose family owned 
the land where Christ Church now stands, on the corner of 
Elm street and Broadway. Mr. Tuttle's home in northern 
New York had been burned, and his wife and children mur- 
dered, by the British and Indians the year before. One daugh- 
ter alone had been spared, and she was taken captive by the 
Indians. Mr. Tuttle had searched for her in vain, and his 
mind had become disordered by his sufferings. He was seated 
by the window when the soldiers passed, and, crazed by the 
thought of his wife and family he seized an old rusty musket 
and rushed from the house, pointing it at the soldiers. The 
neighbors tried to interfere and told the soldiers that the poor 
man was deranged, but they treated him with great cruelty. 

The passage of the troops along the Derby turnpike was 
vigorously opposed by the militia who were commanded by 
Aaron Burr, afterwards Vice President of the United States, 
who was visiting friends in New Haven. The militia kept up a 
steady fire, and at the northwest entrance to the town, Ditch 
Corner, now Broadway, a number were killed on both sides. 

]\Ir. Nathan Beers lived on the northwest corner of Chapel 
and York streets, where the University Club now stands. He 
came to the door to see the soldiers march by, and was bay- 
oneted as he stood. It was at first thought that the wound was 
not mortal, but he lost so much blood that he died. 

Mr. English, the great grandfather of the late James E. 
English, lived on the corner of Brown and Water streets. A 
squad of the enemy entered the house and demanded refresh- 
ment. They were very abusive and profane in their language, 
and he mildly rebuked them for their behavior, whereupon they 
killed him with bayonets. 



loo Early New Haven. 

There were many other instances of totally unprovoked 
murder, and the town was entirely in the hands of the enemy. 
The British forces entered town a little after noon, and imme- 
diately distributed copies of a proclamation from General 
Tryon, that all persons who remained quietly in their houses 
should be safe in their persons and property, except those who 
held office, and that they, on giving proof of their penitence, 
should also be secure from violence. 

But in spite of the proclamation, the British soldiery en- 
tered houses, breaking furniture and stealing whatever valuables 
the}^ could find. One cannot go into even a small part of the 
details. Hardly an aged citizen to-day, who is town born but 
has stored in his memory incidents which have never been pub- 
lished of the British invasion of New Haven which were re- 
lated to him by eye witnesses of the scenes. A few houses were 
protected, among others, the old house which stood on the 
site of the Zunder School, facing College street on George 
street. A British officer had been hospitably entertained there 
at the time of the French and Indian war, and he asked for its 
protection on that account. 

The widow of General Wooster, the daughter of the late 
President Clap of Yale College, was living in the fine old Woos- 
ter mansion, on what is now Wooster street. She had re- 
mained in her house, perhaps hoping that her age and position 
would protect her, but the soldiers destroyed her rich furniture 
and carried off her valuable possessions ''leaving not even a bed 
nor the smallest article in her kitchen." Among other things 
they took were a box and two large trunks containing the 
manuscript writings of Mrs. Wooster's father, President Clap. 
President Stiles wrote to General Tryon later describing the 
character and stating the value of these manuscripts. He said 
they could be of no use to the British, and he would be very 
grateful if they might be returned. General Tryon returned an 



The British Invasion of New Haven. ioi 

equally courteous reply, stating that he thought there had been 
some mistake about thinking his soldiers had taken them, for 
he had not heard of any such manuscripts. It was learned 
later, however, that some boxes of letters and papers had been 
emptied into the harbor from the deck of one of the vessels. 
A portion of these were collected by men who rowed from the 
shore in boats and these were sent to President Stiles, who 
found that they were the Clap manuscripts, but by far the 
larger part of them was never recovered. 

Meanwhile the body of soldiery who approached the East 
Haven shore were greeted with a volley from the rifles of a 
small company of men, and the commanding officer was killed. 
When they finally landed, they fought every inch of the way, 
and set fire to many houses. They captured Beacon Hill and 
Black Rock Fort, and made prisoners of the garrison of seven- 
teen men. 

It is believed that it was at first the intention of General 
Garth to burn the town, but so many militia were coming .from 
the surrounding country by way of Neck Bridge that he 
thought it would be advisable to wait until he had secured that 
entrance, and prevented the inrush of further defenders of the 
soil. 

Early Monday afternoon Tryon crossed from East Haven 
on the ferry, and held a council of war with Sir George Col- 
lier, General Garth and other officers. It is thought that this 
consultation was held in the State House, near where Trinity 
Church now stands, and several loyal gentlemen of New Haven 
were present. Their solicitations perhaps helped to cause the 
decision to spare the town. 

At this time the trade of New Haven with the Barbadoes 
and other islands of the West Indies had grown to be of con- 
siderable importance, and great stocks of sugar, molasses and 
rum were in the cellars and storehouses of the merchants. The 



I02 Early New Haven. 

soldiers speedily discovered the liquor, and after pillaging the 
houses to their hearts content, they become very drunk, and 
many of them were seen lying in the streets and on the Green, 
completely overcome by liquor. This drunkenness among the 
troops troubled General Garth, and was undoubtedly one of 
the reasons which made them decide to evacuate the town next 
day. After the council was over, the principal officers made a 
tour of inspection, and from the top of Admiral Foote's house 
on the corner of Chapel and Temple streets, they obtained a 
birdseye view of the town. It was here that General Garth made 
his oft-quoted remark "It is too pretty a town to burn." In 
the evening a banquet was given to the British officers by the 
loyal gentlemen of the town in the old Chandler house, which 
stood where the Tontine building is now. This house was 
afterward moved further up Church street and is still standing, 
being the residence of Henry B. Sargent. The xA-dmiral Foote 
house has been enlarged and altered for shops, but the wooden 
rear part can still be seen on Temple street. 

General Tryon returned to his camp in East Haven, and 
Garth remained here with his troops. Sentinels were posted 
the entire length of York, George, State and Grove streets. 
Part of the soldiers remained on guard and the rest slept on 
their arms on the Green. At sunrise the orders were given 
to march. So many of the soldiers had not slept off the effect 
of their carousal that carts, wagons and wheelbarrows were 
used to get them to the wharf. Some were taken in boats to 
the fleet, others by the ferry to East Haven from which point 
Tryon's division was embarked, and by afternoon the last ship 
had sailed out of the harbor. As the last boat load left Long 
Wharf the enemy fired the store houses built upon it. 

On the hilly East Haven shore a man observed them as 
they set sail and made a derisive gesture. He was instantly 
killed by a shot from one of the vessels. A broadside was fired 



The British Invasion of New Haven. 103 

at Black Rock fort, and the balls rebounded, one of them 
killing a man named Isaac Pardee, who was going to a spring 
for a pail of water. 

Twenty-seven persons were killed and nineteen wounded 
on the American side. General Tryon reported three killed, 
thirty-two wounded and seventeen missing, but other estimates 
make the enemy's loss two hundred in killed, wounded and 
missing. As for the missing, it is known that many Hessians 
deserted and remained in New Haven, choosing good trades 
and occupations and becoming useful citizens. Eleven houses, 
nine barns and several other buildings were burned. The 
amount of property destroyed was estimated at nearly twenty- 
five thousand pounds. On the 7th of July, Fairfield was burned, 
and Norwalk was burned on the loth. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

EARLY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS. 

A prominent figure in the community was Ezekiel Cheever, 
the first schoolmaster of New Haven. He was a passenger 
on board the Hector, and was one of the free planters in the 
colony. Soon after he came he opened a school in his own 
house. He lived on the southwest corner of Grove and Church 
streets, next to Captain Turner, but his plot was a small one, 
as he invested only twelve pounds in the colony. He was one 
of the twelve men appointed for the foundation work of Church 
and State, and although he was never ordained he occasionally 
preached. He was either a very dull preacher or had some 
peculiarities of manner, for it is on record that Richard Smoolt, 
a servant of Mrs. Turner, "for scoffing at the word of God as 
preached by Mr. Cheever," was sentenced to be severely 
whipped. 

Mr. Cheever was an excellent teacher, and the boys who w^ere 
his pupils made great progress. Michael Wigglesworth in his 
autobiography mentions that he was one of Mr. Cheever 's pu- 
pils and that under him he ''began to make Latin and get on 
apace." While he was in New Haven Mr. Cheever prepared a 
Latin grammar for the use of his pupils which passed through 
many editions and was used for years in the schools of New 
England. He afterward wrote a book on the Millenium, called 
"Scripture Prophecies Explained." 

Although Mr. Cheever was an excellent teacher, he was 
very unpopular on account of his severity toward his pupils. 
He was apparently not on good terms with Mr. Davenport, and 
when Mrs. Eaton was excommunicated he spoke with great 
freedom of the injustice of her sentence, and censured Mr. Dav- 
enport severely. These sayings were brought to Mr. Davenport, 



Early Schools and Schoolmasters. 105 

and the parents of the boys whom Mr. Cheever had treated 
harshly helped to increase the ill feeling by bringing additional 
complaints against him. He was in his turn brought to trial. 
The main charge against him was that' he had said Mr. Daven- 
port had been unjust and too severe in his treatment of Mrs. 
Eaton. Some of the charges are almost too trivial to men- 
tion. One was that he sat in his place at meeting with his head 
resting on his hand. The inference was that Mr. Davenport's 
sermon wearied him too much for him to maintain an erect 
position. He was called to answer for his "contradictory and 
proud frame of spirit" and was cast out of the Church "till the 
proud flesh be destroyed and he be brought to a more reason- 
able frame of mind.'^ 

This humiliation made New Haven no longer desirable as a 
dwelling place, and he removed to Ipswich, and from there in 
1 65 1, went to Boston, He taught in the Boston Latin School 
some years, and died there in 1708 at the age of ninety-four, 
"having been a faithful, painful teacher for seventy years." 

After Ezekiel Cheever left New Haven for Boston, Mr. 
Jeanes, who lived on the southeast corner of Chapel and Church 
streets, where the Cutler building now stands, taught pupils in 
his own house, and a Mr. Pearce taught primary children. 
There were several schools and many different teachers as 
time went on, and people living in the outlying plantations, 
Milford, Guilford and others, were allowed to send their chil- 
dren, but there was trouble about properly proportioning the 
expenses and and the colonists did not have a satisfactory 
school for the teaching of the higher branches until, by the will 
of Edward Hopkins, whose wife was Hannah Yale, the daughter 
of Mrs. Eaton, property in Connecticut was bequeathed for 
educational purposes to three trustees, of whom Mr. Daven- 
port was one. 

It was the intention of the trustees that the proceeds of 



io6 Early New Haven. 

the sale of this property should be divided between Hadley, 
Massachusetts, New Haven and Harvard College. The land, 
being in Connecticut was under the jurisdiction of the Con- 
necticut Colony, and Hartford promptly interposed legal ob- 
stacles to the settlement of the estate, so that for five years the 
bequest was inoperative, and the revenues from it had dimin- 
ished one quarter. At the expiration of that time an adjust- 
ment was effected, so that out of the whole estate of fourteen 
hundred pounds. New Haven received four hundred pounds, 
Hartford the same amount, Hadley, three hundred and Har- 
vard College one hundred pounds. Mr. Davenport offered 
to apply the share allotted to New Haven in aid of a grammar 
school, provided the town and colony would also make provi- 
sion. The school saw many dark and discouraging days and 
languished for a while, but was restored in 1667, and has fitted 
many generations of New Haven boys for college. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

YALE COLLEGE. 

It was designed from the beginning that a small college 
should be established in New Haven, and in laying out the town 
the planters reserved the tract called Oyster Shell Field, east 
of State street and north of Meadow street, for *'the use and 
benefit of a College." A lot on the north side of Elm street be- 
tween College and Church streets, which in the first division of 
land had been bestowed upon Mrs. Eldred, a proprietor but a 
non-resident, was also held by the free planters for the bene- 
fit of the College. This was the lot afterward taken in ex- 
change by the Center Church, when a parsonage was built for 
the Rev. Mr. Pierpont. 

But times were hard and the people were poor, and much 
as they loved learning and desired to have it for their children, 
no steps were taken toward actually founding a college until 
toward the end of the century, when a proposition was made 
that a college should be established by a synod of the Churches, 
to be called The School of the Churches. Several ministers 
accordingly met in Branford in 1700, and each in turn laid on 
the table the few books he had brought with him saying "I 
give these books for the founding of a college." A charter 
was applied for to the State Legislature and was granted on 
October 9, 1701. 

For fifteen years the college was located in Saybrook, but 
the tutors, who had parishes in different towns near by, could 
not conveniently leave their homes, and the students were 
obliged to go to them to recite. At one time the whole senior 
class lived in Milford, because their tutor resided there. No 
wonder the College did not flourish and that in four consecu- 
tive years only ten students received degrees. The students 



io8 Early New Haven. 

complained that they were not comforatably housed at Say- 
brook and were not properly taught. Dissatisfaction became 
so great that the trustees at last allowed the students to go to 
other places to receive instruction and a large part of them 
went to Wethersfield. 

Then Hartford petitioned to have the College established 
there, on the ground that **it was more in the center of the 
Colony" and New Haven also put in a plea. As a majority of 
the trustees were from New Haven, it was decided by them to 
move the college here, and instruction began in the autumn of 
1716. 

But this was only the beginning of trouble, for the Wethers- 
field students refused to come to New Haven. The House of 
Representatives voted that it was best that the college should be 
located in Middletown. But owing to the influence of Gov- 
ernor Saltonstall it was finally decided that the Collegiate 
School, as it was then called, should be established in New 
Haven. 

The students in Wethersfield established their own College, 
and even held one commencement, at which degrees were 
given by one of the Hartford trustees. 

Saybrook refused to give up the Library, and it became 
necessary to call upon the sheriff of the county to take pos- 
session of it. He was resisted in the execution of his duty, and 
after the books had been piled into ox carts to be transported 
to New Haven, a mob of men took off the wheels of the carts 
and broke down the bridges. Many valuable books and papers 
were lost or stolen in the struggle. 

New Haven voted to give the college two valuable lots on 
the corner of College and Chapel streets, and on these two lots a 
handsome edifice was erected where Qsborn Hall now stands, 
and was first called College Hall. It was built of wood, and 
was one hundred and seventy feet long, twenty-two feet wide 



Yale College. 109 

and three stories high, with dormer windows. It contained a 
Hbrary, dining hall and kitchen, as well as rooms for the 
students. 

It has already been said that Mrs. Eaton when she came to 
this country, was accompanied by the three children of her first 
husband, David, Thomas and Hannah. David Yale had a son 
Elihu, born in New Haven, April 5, 1648, who was nine years 
old at the time of Governor Eaton's death, and he returned to 
England with Mrs. Eaton the following year. He entered the 
service of the East India Company of London, and lived in 
Madras for many years. He accumulated a large fortune, and 
was elected Governor of the Company. He always cherished 
an affection for the place of his birth and when the project of 
the college was under way he sent a large sum of money as a 
gift. On this account the nearly finished College Hall was 
named Yale College, and it was completed in readiness for the 
Commencement of 1718, which was a notable event. Governor 
Yale also remembered the college in his will, but he died before 
the will was properly witnessed, and it was not admitted to 
probate. 

In 1745 a new charter was granted to the college and the 
name of Yale, which had heretofore been given only to the col- 
lege building, was now bestowed upon the institution. The Leg- 
islature also gave over $5,000 for a new building, which was 
called Connecticut Hall. This was long known as South Mid- 
dle, but since its restoration, its old name has been given back 
to it. 

One by one, as the needs of the college demanded, the other 
buildings in the old Brick Row were put up, and the Library 
and Laboratory were built. Now most of these buildings have 
been removed, and modern stone structures enclose the campus. 
But there was a sentiment about the old Brick Row, and its 
days of plain living and high thinking which no longer exist. 



j 
no Early New Haven. \ 

Athletics were not, extravagant expenditure was not, in those ; 
early days. The students, as a rule, came to College to study and j 
they improved every one of the opportunities offered them. 
While there were occasional disputes with the town officials, the 
general tone was very manly, dignified and a little austere. 
So many students studied for the ministry that Yale College 
could well continue to be called The School of the Churches, 
until a comparatively late day. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE CEMETERIES. 

The central square of the original nine squares of the town 
plot was reserved for all public purposes, and whenever a death 
occurred among the early settlers the body was laid to rest in 
a place reserved for burials, in the rear of the meeting house. 
This place was once or twice enlarged, and in 1775 it was 
enclosed by a fence. 

In 1797 Mr. James Ilillhouse and a company of thirty gen- 
tlemen, bought the land on the northwest corner of College 
and Grove streets, and laid out the Grove Street Cemetery in 
family lots. It is said that this was the first cemetery laid out 
in this manner. Many persons bought lots, and removed the 
tomb stones and the remains of their ancestors from the old 
burying ground, and these old stones, standing in family lots 
with the more modern monuments of their descendants form 
one of the most interesting features of the Grove Street Ceme- 
tery. 

The second meeting house, built in 1668, was succeeded by 
a brick building, and that in turn by the present edifice. This 
Church extends farther westward than any of the three pre- 
vious ones, and when the workmen began the necessary ex- 
cavations some human remains were unearthed. These were 
reburied in the Grove Street Cemetery, and it was considered 
best to dig no cellar for the Church, but to raise it above the 
level of the Green, and to enclose beneath it the graves without 
disturbing these monuments. This was done and of late years 
the crypt has been concreted. It is an interesting spot to visit, 
for it preserves a bit of old New Haven, and shows the level of 
of the Green as it was in 1812. 

After the Grove Street Cemetery was opened, burials be- 



112 Early New Haven. 

came less frequent in the old burying ground. The last per- 
son to be interred there was Mrs. Martha Whitelsey, in 1812. 
She was the widow of one of the early pastors of the Center 
Church. 

There are about one hundred and forty tombstones in the 
crypt of the Center Church, and the names of the persons they 
commemorate are inscribed on tablets in the vestibule of the 
church. There were about eight hundred tombstones in the 
unenclosed portion of the burying ground. In 1821 these were 
taken up and removed to the Grove Street Cemetery, where part 
of them are arranged in alphabetical order against its west and 
north walls. Many of the others are in private lots. The 
graves on the Green have not been distrbed, but the ground 
has been levelled and graded, and all trace of its former use as 
a burial ground has been obliterated, except three stones — 
those of James Dixwell, the regicide, the stone marked E. W., 
and that marked W. G. 

There is a tablet on the west wall of the Center Church 
which reads as follows: 

From the settlement of New Haven 

1639 to 1798 
the adjoining ground was occupied 
as a common place of burial. 
Then a new burial ground was opened 
and divided into family lots 
and city squares. 
In 1 81 3 this church was placed 
over the monuments of several 
whose names are inscribed on tablets 

in the vestibule. 
In 1 82 1 the remaining monuments 
were by consent of survivors 
and under direction of the city 
removed to the new ground. 

" In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 
At the last trump, the dead shall be raised." 



) I 



The Cemeteries. 113 

At the southwest corner of the church is another tablet 
bearing the words : 

In memoriam 

Theophilus Eaton 

First Governor 

of the 

New Haven Colony. 

Died January 7, 

1657- 
And lies buried near this spot. 

And at the northwest corner is still another: 

In Memory of 
Stephen Goodyear 
First Deputy Governor 

of the 

Colony of New Haven 

and one of the 

earliest members of the Church. 

Died in London, England, 1658. 

Erected by his descendent Goodyear. 

The ivy has grown over the base of the tablet, so that the 
Christian name of the descendant can not be read. 

Governor Eaton's tombstone, as has been said (p. 59), is 
now in the Jones' lot, on Linden avenue, in the Grove street 
cemetery. On the same stone is cut the name of his daughter, 
and of her husband, Governor Jones, and their epitaph reads : 

"T' attend you, sir, beneath these framed stones 
Are come your honored son and daughter Jones 
On each side to repose their wearied bones." 

When the Cemetery was first laid out, a large lot was re- 
served on Maple avenue for the interment of such students and 
instructors of Yale College who had no other convenient place 
of burial. It is now so filled with graves that there is room for 

8 



114 Early New Haven. 

no more. On Maple avenue is a tablet commemorating Roger 
Sherman, the first mayor of New Haven, and one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence. 

On the right hand side of Cedar avenue is the grave of 
Theodore Winthrop, the first citizen of New Haven to be killed 
in the War of the Rebellion. He was the author of ''Cecil 
Dreeme" and other novels which had much vogue fifty years 
ago. 

Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, and Noah Web- 
ster, of dictionary fame, are both buried on this avenue. 

Near the end of Holly avenue lies William Goodyear, the 
inventor of the process of vulcanizing rubber. 

On Spruce avenue is the rather remarkable monument of 
Admiral Gregory — a huge block of stone with a bronze anchor 
resting on its top. 

On Central avenue is a stone erected to the memory of 
Benjamin English. He was stabbed by a British soldier while 
sitting in his own house, the day of the invasion of New Haven 
by the British. 

On Maple avenue, in the Beers lot, is a sandstone slab 
brought from the old burying ground, inscribed with the name 
of Nathan Beers. He, too, was wounded by a party of British 
troops on the 5th of July, 1779, and died five days afterward. 
There is another very old sandstone monument in the Bishop 
lot nearby, commemorating several generations of the Bishop 
family. The Hillhouse lot is also on Maple avenue, and con- 
tains the monument to James A. Hillhouse, to whom New 
Haven is in many ways deeply indebted. In Cedar avenue is 
also a monument in memory of David Humphreys, aid-de-camp 
to Washington. 

There are many other most interesting memorials of the 
dead in this quiet resting place, and in their names is bound 
up most of New Haven's early history. 



The Cemeteries. 115 

It is estimated that ten thousand persons are buried in the 
Grove Street Cemetery, and that over two thousand he under 
the grass in the rear of the Center Church. 

In less than fifty years from the time the former was opened 
it was becoming difficult to obtain family lots, and a new 
cemetery, first called the Washington, and afterward the Ever- 
green Cemetery, was laid out near the West River and first used 
in 1848. Since then the Hebrew and Roman Catholic Ceme- 
teries have been laid out, 



CHAPTER XX. 

EARLY MAPS OF THE COLONY OF NEW HAVEN. 

Mention has been made (page i8) of John Brockett, a sur- 
veyor, to whom it is thought we owe the laying out of the 
town. In the records of the Colony of New Haven, and in 
old deeds, there are various allusions to a map of the town plot, 
and it was thought that after Brockett had finished his work of 
surveying, he had made a map showing the allotment of each 
of the settlers. But it was not known that any copies of this 
map were in existence, and when Dr. Leonard Bacon prepared 
his ''Thirteen Historical Discourses" which tell us so much of 
the early history of the town, he was not able to say, with ab- 
solute certainty, just where Robert Newman lived, in whose 
"mighty barn" the free planters made their Fundamental 
Agreement (see Chapter IV). 

A copy of this map was, however, in the possession of an 
aged gentleman of New Haven, and in the winter of 1880, on 
learning how valuable a document it was, he kindly loaned it in 
order that copies might be made. Reference to this map cleared 
up many little difficulties with regard to the exact site of the 
allotment to each settler. Every name was given. "Mr. Dav- 
enport's walk" was clearly marked, and the exact shape and size 
of the later allotments all laid out. This map is clearly the 
most valuable document which has come down to us from the 
early days of the Colony. Though the maps existing are but 
copies of a copy, they have been most carefully made and veri- 
fied in every particular. From one of these maps the frontis- 
piece of Mr. Atwater's "The History of the Colony of New 
Haven," was drawn. 

In 1724 Joseph Brown drew a map of New Haven and 
marked upon it the houses, 157 in number, which were then 



Early Maps of the Colony of New Haven. 117 

standing, together with the names of their occupants. This 
map, too, has perished, but President Ezra Stiles of Yale Col- 
lege copied it in 1782. The number of houses within the town 
square were 73, and 84 were beyond the square. Mr. Brown 
was born in 1701 and wrote the names of the occupants 
from memory. He lived to be a very aged man, and was a ref- 
eree regarding all New Haven events. 

The third map, a really beautiful specimen of engraving 
was "taken by the Hon. Gen. Wadsworth of Durham, with all 
the buildings in 1748, to which are added the names and pro- 
fessions of the inhabitants at that period." On this map the 
brick buildings are colored red, and the frame buildings are 
colored blue, as blue was at that time a popular color for 
wooden buildings. 

In 1775 President Stiles drew a map of the town as it then 
appeared. Unfortunately he had no conception of the value his 
map would have in after years, for he made it on a half sheet 
of letter paper, and therefore on a very small scale. The houses 
are indicated, but no names are given. The map shows that 
many trees had been set out in symmetrical rows, and the names 
of a few streets are indicated. The fence around the burying 
ground is also shown. 

These four maps are all of which we have any knowledge 
prior to 1800. The Doolittle Map was made in 181 7, and 
there have been many maps made in later years. All of them 
have their use and interest, but it is to the first two maps — 
those of New Haven in 1641 and in 1724, that we owe much of 
our knowledge of the dwelling places of the early settlers. 



CHAPTER XXL 

A RETROSPECT. 

The records of early New Haven must be considered to in- 
clude a period of about 150 years, which brings us almost to 
the nineteenth century. N^ew Haven is no longer a pretty little 
town, but a great and growing city. The austere standards of 
the past no longer obtain, and there is a wider and more opti- 
mistic outlook. 

The government of New Haven under Eaton and Daven- 
port was a pure theocracy, and the only one that ever actually 
existed. The purpose was to found "a colony whose design 
was religion,^' and whose law was the law of Moses, given by 
God from Mount Sinai. We have seen what stern laws were 
enacted to punish offenders. It is interesting to speculate what 
would have happened to the colony if she had been left to pur- 
sue her independent way. She bitterly deplored the necessity 
of merging her identity with Hartford in 1664, but there was 
no alternative. 

But the twenty-five years of independence which New 
Haven enjoyed gave the place a tone which her residents believe 
to still exist. There is political corruption here as elsewhere, 
but there is at bottom a strong sense of civic righteousness 
which manifests itself as need arises. There is a peculiar sense 
of brotherliness among the representatives of the first settlers. 
Many people are afraid that the encroachments of the great 
college on the town's domain will stifle the strong feeling of 
local pride and attachment, but it must be remembered that the 
undergraduate life is but a thing of a day, and that no one who 
comes here to reside in his mature years can understand the 
intense feeling of the "town born" for the name and fame, the 



A Retrospect. 119 

history and traditions of his native place. All of these can say 
with the Psalmist, "The lot is fallen unto me in pleasant places ; 
yea^ I have a goodly heritage ;" and still more heartily with 
St. Paul, "I am a citizen of no mean city." 



AUTHORITIES. 



Atwater's History of New Haven. 

Lambert's History of the City of New Haven. 

Livermore's The Repubhc of New Haven. 

Trowbridge's Ancient Maritime Interests of New Haven. 

Townsend's Quinnipiac Indians. 

Stiles' History of the Judges. 

Blake's New Haven Green. 

Clap's History of Yale College. 

The Yale Genealogy. 

The Mansfield Genealogy. 

New Haven Colony Records. 

Records of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. 

Bacon's Historical Discourses. 

Mather's Magnalia. 

Literary Journal of the Rev. Ezra Stiles. 

The Old State House. 

Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. 

Notes. 

Hutchinson's Diary. 

Trumbull's Connecticut. 

Kingsley's Addresses. 

Historical Sketches of New Haven by Miss Bartlett. 

John Fiske's Historical and Literary Essays. 



The Cemeteries. 113 

At the southwest corner of the church is another tablet 
bearing the words: 

In memoriam 

Theophilus Eaton 

First Governor 

of the 

New Haven Colony. 

Died January 7, 

1657- 
And lies buried near this spot. 

And at the northwest corner is still another: 

In Memory of 
Stephen Goodyear 
First Deputy Governor 

of the 

Colony of New Haven 

and one of the 

earhest members of the Church. 

Died in London, England, 1658. 

Erected by his descendent Goodyear. 

The ivy has grown over the base of the tablet, so that the 
Christian name of the descendant can not be read. 

Governor Eaton's tombstone, as has been said (p. 59), is 
now in the Jones' lot, on Linden avenue, in the Grove street 
cemetery. On the same stone is cut the name of his daughter, 
and of her husband, Governor Jones, and their epitaph reads : 

"T' attend you, sir, beneath these framed stones 
Are come your honored son and daughter Jones 
On each side to repose their wearied bones." 

When the Cemetery was first laid out, a large lot was re- 
served on Maple avenue for the interment of such students and 
instructors of Yale College who had no other convenient place 
of burial. It is now so filled with graves that there is room for 

8 



114 Early New Haven. 

no more. On Maple avenue is a tablet commemorating Roger 
Sherman, the first mayor of New Haven, and one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence. 

On the right hand side of Cedar avenue is the grave of 
Theodore Winthrop, the first citizen of New Haven to be killed 
in the War of the Rebellion. He was the author of ''Cecil 
Dreeme" and other novels which had much vogue fifty years 
ago. 

Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, and Noah Web- 
ster, of dictionary fame, are both buried on this avenue. 

Near the end of Holly avenue lies William Goodyear, the 
inventor of the process of vulcanizing rubber. 

On Spruce avenue is the rather remarkable monument of 
Admiral Gregory — a huge block of stone with a bronze anchor 
resting on its top. 

On Central avenue is a stone erected to the memory of 
Benjamin English. He was stabbed by a British soldier while 
sitting in his own house, the day of the invasion of New Haven 
by the British. 

On Maple avenue, in the Beers lot, is a sandstone slab 
brought from the old burying ground, inscribed with the name 
of Nathan Beers. He, too, was wounded by a party of British 
troops on the 5th of July, 1779,, and died five days afterward. 
There is another very old sandstone monument in the Bishop 
lot nearby, commemorating several generations of the Bishop 
family. The Hillhouse lot is also on Maple avenue, and con- 
tains the monument to James A. Hillhouse, to whom New 
Haven is in many ways deeply indebted. In Cedar avenue is 
also a mopument in memory of David Humphreys, aid-de-camp 
to Washington. 

There are many other most interesting memorials of the 
dead in this quiet resting place, and in their names is bound 
up most of New Haven's early history. 



The Cemeteries. 115 

It is estimated that ten thousand persons are buried in the 
Grove Street Cemetery, and that over two thousand He under 
the grass in the rear of the Center Church. 

In less than fifty years from the time the former was opened 
it was becoming difficult to obtain family lots, and a new 
cemetery, first called the Washington, and afterward the Ever- 
green Cemetery, was laid out near the West River and first used 
in 1848. Since then the Hebrew and Roman Catholic Ceme- 
teries have been laid out, 



CHAPTER XX. 

EARLY MAPS OF THE COLONY OF NEW HAVEN. 

Mention has been made (page i8) of John Brocket!, a sur- 
veyor, to whom it is thought we owe the laying out of the 
town. In the records of the Colony of New Haven, and in 
old deeds, there are various allusions to a map of the town plot, 
and it was thought that after Brockett had finished his work of 
surveying, he had made a map showing the allotment of each 
of the settlers. But it was not known that any copies of this 
map were in existence, and when Dr. Leonard Bacon prepared 
his ''Thirteen Historical Discourses" which tell us so much of 
the early history of the town, he was not able to say, with ab- 
solute certainty, just where Robert Newman lived, in whose 
"mighty barn" the free planters made their Fundamental 
Agreement (see Chapter IV). 

A copy of this map was, however, in the possession of an 
aged gentleman of New Haven, and in the winter of 1880, on 
learning how valuable a document it was, he kindly loaned it in 
order that copies might be made. Reference to this map cleared 
up many little difficulties with regard to the exact site of the 
allotment to each settler. Every name was given. "Mr. Dav- 
enport's walk" was clearly marked, and the exact shape and size 
of the later allotments all laid out. This map is clearly the 
most valuable document which has come down to us from the 
early days of the Colony. Though the maps existing are but 
copies of a copy, they have been most carefully made and veri- 
fied in every particular. From one of these maps the frontis- 
piece of Mr. Atwater's "The History of the Colony of New 
Haven," was drawn. 

In 1724 Joseph Brown drew a map of New Haven and 
marked upon it the houses, 157 in number, which were then 



Early Maps of the Colony of New Haven. 117 

standing, together with the names of their occupants. This 
map, too, has perished, but President Ezra Stiles of Yale Col- 
lege copied it in 1782. The number of houses within the town 
square were 73, and 84 were beyond the square. Mr. Brown 
was born in 1701 and wrote the names of the occupants 
from memory. He lived to be a very aged man, and was a ref- 
eree regarding all New Haven events. 

The third map, a really beautiful specimen of engraving 
was ''taken by the Hon. Gen. Wadsworth of Durham, with all 
the buildings in 1748, to which are added the names and pro- 
fessions of the inhabitants at that period." On this map the 
brick buildings are colored red, and the frame buildings are 
colored blue, as blue was at that time a popular color for 
wooden buildings. 

In 1775 President Stiles drew a map of the town as it then 
appeared. Unfortunately he had no conception of the value his 
map would have in after years, for he made it on a half sheet 
of letter paper, and therefore on a very small scale. The houses 
are indicated, but no names are given. The map shows that 
many trees had been set out in symm.etrical rows, and the names 
of a few streets are indicated. The fence around the burying 
ground is also shown. 

These four maps are all of which we have any knowledge 
prior to 1800. The Doolittle Map was made in 181 7, and 
there have been many maps made in later years. All of them 
have their use and interest, but it is to the first two maps — 
those of New Haven in 1641 and in 1724, that we owe much of 
our knowledge of the dwelling places of the early settlers. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A RETROSPECT. 

The records of early New Haven must be considered to in- 
clude a period of about 150 years, which brings us almost to 
the nineteenth century. New Haven is no longer a pretty little 
town, but a great and growing city. The austere standards of 
the past no longer obtain, and there is a wider and more opti- 
mistic outlook. 

The government of New Haven under Eaton and Daven- 
port was a pure theocracy, and the only one that ever actually 
existed. The purpose was to found "a colony whose design 
was religion," and whose law was the law of Moses, given by 
God from Mount Sinai. We have seen what stern laws were 
enacted to punish offenders. It is interesting to speculate what 
would have happened to the colony if she had been left to pur- 
sue her independent way. She bitterly deplored the necessity 
of merging her identity with Hartford in 1664, but there was 
no alternative. 

But the twenty-five years of independence which New 
Haven enjoyed gave the place a tone which her residents believe 
to still exist. There is political corruption here as elsewhere, 
but there is at bottom a strong sense of civic righteousness 
which manifests itself as need arises. There is a peculiar sense 
of brotherliness among the representatives of the first settlers. 
Many people are afraid that the encroachments of the great 
college on the town's domain will stifle the strong feeling of 
local pride and attachment, but it must be remembered that the 
undergraduate life is but a thing of a day, and that no one who 
conies here to reside in his mature years can understand the 
intense feeling of the "town born" for the name and fame, the 



A Retrospect. 119 

history and traditions of his native place. All of these can say 
with the Psalmist, ''The lot is fallen unto me in pleasant places ; 
yea, I have a goodly heritage ;" and still more heartily with 
St. Paul, "I am a citizen of no mean city." 



AUTHORITIES. 



Atwater's History of New Haven. 

Lambert's History of the City of New Haven. 

Livermore's The Republic of New Haven. 

Trowbridge's Ancient Maritime Interests of New Haven. 

Townsend's Quinnipiac Indians. 

Stiles' History of the Judges. 

Blake's New Haven Green. 

Clap's History of Yale College. 

The Yale Genealogy. 

The Mansfield Genealogy. 

New Haven Colony Records. 

Records of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. 

Bacon's Historical Discourses. 

Mather's Magnalia. 

Literary Journal of the Rev. Ezra Stiles. 

The Old State House. 

Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. 

Notes. 

Hutchinson's Diary. 

Trumbull's Connecticut. 

Kingsley's Addresses. 

Historical Sketches of New Haven by Miss Bartlett. 

John Fiske's Historical and Literary Essays. 



jnt^ ^ isii& 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



JAN 4 1912 
• JAN 1C 1912 



